The Unbeatable Trainer 1: Forsaken Warriors
by Sonic's Shadow X
Summary: Stephen has taken a vow to destroy Team Rocket and avenge his parent's deaths. Five years later, his world is turned upside down when he meets a mysterious but powerful trainer named Tyler, and embarks on a mission that could potentially change the world.
1. Chapter 1: The Man in the Black Cloak

**A Word from the Author.**

Hey guys, I'm Sonic's Shadow (x). Before we start the story, I want to mention a few things...

First and formost, I don't own Pokemon. If I did, that would be great, but I don't. I like the game and I'm pretty good at it, but I don't know a boatload of crud about the anime. This story is meant to be a bit of a blend between the game, the anime, and a few elements of my own, but I don't want to get any hate mail saying, "GIOVANNI DOESN'T ACT LIKE THAT, YOU MOTHERFUCKER!"

Second, you may be wondering about the weird formatting and all. I've been writing Fanfics for a while now, but I'm new to this website, so i'm not sure how long you guys are used to stories being. Let me tell you right now: For a fanfiction, this story is VERY long. The reason for the strange formatting is because this was originally, and still might be, a CYOA on Gamefaqs. Don't like it? Too bad, it's too long to change everything.

The board would be more than happy to have more traffic.

Also, the first few chapters are in second-person (I.E. _you throw_ a Pokeball, instead of _he threw _a pokeball). Another side-effect of the story beginning as CYOA; don't worry, it changes back to normal eventually.

In case you're wondering, I recently did a bit of "maintenance" on my story so that the chapters were better organized. For this reason, you may notice random bits and pieces of the story suddenly disappearing. Don't be alarmed, it probably just means that i'm editing the chapter. if this happens, check back in two or three minutes.

I started writing this story when I was about 13 years old (that should give you and idea of how badly I procrastinate). I'm a much more experienced writer now, so if you're wondering why the writing style and tone seems to gradually change... that's why. Also, I combined my prologue and first chapter. If you're new, then don't worry; not all my chapters are so long.

Finally, I'm gonna say right off the bat that this is a very dark story. For Pokemon, at least. I won't spoil it for you, but know that many main characters die. As i said before, i'm not quite sure how things usually go on this site, but this isn't your average Y7-rated children's anime. (I'm still debating whether to write Book 4, but if I do it will be much, MUCH lighter). The story is rated M for Intense language, violence, adult situations, etc. Someone once called it "The Dark Knight of Pokemon stories", which I think a nice ring to it.

In case you're wondering, the Main Character's name is Stephen (not to be confused with Steven Stone, the Champion of Hoehn). I know i said that in the description, but i just wanted to mention it, as the beginning of the story makes it difficult to realize.

Having said that...enjoy.

**PROLOGUE**

Most stories of great Pokemon trainers begin with dreams of glory. This one is no exception.

_You are battling in the final round of the 2045 Pokemon League, Kanto. Why Kanto? You have no idea. It's dark out, and ten thousand are screaming the two Finalist's names. You can single out who is shouting your name, but the voices of people cheering for your opponent are muffled. Your opponent is completely cloaked in black. You can't make out his face._

_The Mystery Challenger has sent out a Blaziken. You call back your Seviper, who lays charred and burned on the ground. The smell of smoke reaches your nostrils. The score is now 2/2. You smile._

_"Go, Alakazam!" But before you can command your Pokemon to attack, the Blaziken jumps forward. The smell of smoke gets more intense. Without a command from its trainer, the Blaziken unleashes a blast of fire. The flames engulf you and the rest of the crowd. The heat and smoke grow so intense that you fall to the ground, choking. Screams from all over the stadium. Your opponent does nothing but watch as Blaziken wreaks total havoc, and your Alakazam is down, blackened and probably dead. The Blaziken does not let up._

_You manage to raise your head enough to see the man in the black cloak disappearing through the tunnel behind him, leaving the chaos behind._

Then you wake up. The Pokemon and the stadium both disappear. But the heat, the smoke, and the screams remain. The village is on fire.

* * *

Meanwhile…

As usual, Giovanni sits on his trademark leather chair, stroking Persian. But this is not the same Giovanni you are familiar with.

His short hair is now pure white, with only a few streaks of brown left. He has grown a graying mustache and beard, and surrounding his eyes are wrinkles, caused by years of age and worry.

But Giovanni is no less the evil, heartless murderer he once was. If anything, he is now even more of a madman. A madman preparing to put his last great plan into action. And this time he would not fail.

Standing in front of him are his oldest followers, Commanders Butch and Cassidy. They are giving him the update on their latest operation, off in Kanto. It isn't going well.

"What do you mean your forces are retreating?" Giovanni demands.

"Sir, with all due respect…it's hopeless."

"Bullshit; _I _decide when it's hopelessYou said the same thing when we raided the police force in Pewter city, and that operation went perfectly. We even managed to kill the idiot Gym Leader there. I'm beginning to doubt you're judgment, Butch. You're both lucky I don't demote you on the spot."

Butch flinches, but Cassidy stands her ground. "Sir, just hear us out. Our force moved in and the bank robbery went smoothly, but the second we proceeded to take the Gym, The Police Force appeared out of nowhere. We thought we could take them, but they managed to hold us off long enough to get some support from some passing trainers. We had not choice but to –

"Enough!" Giovanni cuts her off. "Both of you out, now! I have much more important matters to attend to. And tell the guards not to let anyone in."

But as the two grudgingly begin to make their way to the door, they hear two distinct gunshots on the other side.

Persain jumps up, growling. Butch and Cassidy look at each other, nod, and proceed to the exit. It slides open, and Cassidy finds herself staring down the barrel of a pistol. It fires.

Before Butch can react, the figure holding the weapon slams him in the face with a fist wearing a white glove. Butch collapses next to his partner. The attacker shoots Butch twice and Cassidy once, to ensure their death. The man, wearing a black cloak, steps toward Giovanni.

Giovanni remains perfectly calm, making no move to save his prized commanders. "Ah. Tyler. It seems you've disposed of my two greatest operatives. I can't say I regret their deaths...but i would have preferred to keep them alive just a bit longer. Still shooting first, and asking questions later, boy?

Tyler steps forward and removes his hood, raising the revolver to Giovanni. " I would've liked to sneak in quietly, but I had no choice."

The man is actually a boy, a teenager of about fifteen. He has wavy, black hair that isn't quite shoulder length, pale skin, and bright green eyes.

"So I suppose you came to kill me." Giovanni says without the slightest trace of fear.

"That, and to tell you that you're men are too late. I've already found what you've been looking for."

For the first time Giovanni looks surprised. "Well, that _is _news to me! May I ask just _how_ you found said...item?"

A glint appears in Tyler's eyes. "Well of course I had a little help from my half brother. But you two have met already, haven't you?"

Giovanni's hand instinctively Raises to the scar on the back of his neck and his face hardens. "Indeed, we have."

Cautiously, Persain begins to growl again. It can tell that this is no ordinary human it is facing.

Giovanni speaks, "And I suppose you also managed to simply…_capture_ the most powerful being on the planet, train it as you're pet?"

Tyler smiles a second time. "Oh I did much more than _capture _it."

He raises the hand holding the gun so that the weapon is now lying face up in his palm. Tyler's eyes seem to twinkle again. Suddenly, the revolver begins to levitate.

Giovanni's eyebrows raise. "That _is _interesting…very interesting indeed. Well, I suppose you intend to kill me now, yes?"

The gun drops back into Tyler's hand, and he raises it again to aim at Giovanni. "That's right, you Son of a Bitch"

The old man chuckles darkly. "Indeed, I am...anyway, you're going to have a bit of trouble with that. I happened to notice you failed to reload your weapon after those..._six _shots, I believe?"

Tyler's face darkens as he realizes his rookie mistake. It's Giovanni's turn to smile.

"Persain, dinner…"

You finally manage to smash out of your smoldering bedroom, grabbing the shotgun that you parents always keep in the closet. The whole hallway is on fire, but you manage to make it to the staircase.

You are about to run down when you hear a scream. You're mother is on the ground, on the other side of the blazing hallway. Her leg is pinned down under a fallen piece of wood and she is separated from you by a huge burning hole.

"Mom!" you yell and begin to fight your way toward her through the smoke.

But she shakes her head. "No, son! Go get to safety. Don't worry about me, you can bring back help once you're out of here!"

You know she is lying and that she'll almost definitely die if you leave her behind, but there isn't anything you can do to save her.

You blink back tears as you realize you could never leave your mother behind, no matter the danger. Taking a few steps back, you get a running start and somehow manage to jump the huge gap.

Despite you mother's cries of refusal, you manage to push off the flaming piece of wood on top of her. Dragging you mom back to the hole, you curse a very bad word as you realize you'll never get the both of you over alive.

"H-honey…" Your mother croaks. "Look down."

You look through the gap to see your couch sitting, unharmed, in the room bellow. You thank Arceus for your good luck, and lower your mother as far down as possible before dropping her.

Dragging your mother outside, you see a horrendous sight. Almost every house in Twinleaf is on fire. But these aren't natural fires; men in black jumpsuits are all over town, chucking cocktail bombs and grenades. Team Rocket

Your neighbor, Missy is screaming, trying to escape the grip of a Rocket Grunt. He forces her to her knees.

"Where's Oak?" he shouts. Missy only continues to sob.

"_Where is Gary Oak?_" the man yells in anger.

Missy puts her head in her hands, moaning, "I d-d-don't….. I don't know…."

Frustrated, the Grunt puts a gun to her head.

*BANG!*

…after a short pause, Missy looks up, surprised to be alive. Then she spots you, holding your still-smoking shotgun. The grunt topples to the ground, and she then nods and runs away.

You begin to turn when you hear the click of a gun being loaded from behind you. A menacing voice says, "well then maybe **this** tough guy can tell us where Mister Oak is…"

Another grunt has a silver gun pointed directly at your head.

Before you can even speak, a tall figure slams into the man.

"NOT. MY. SON!" Your father throws a punch to the mans nose with each word, beating the shit out of him.

He then stands up, smiling, and makes a move to run towards you. But he suddenly stops. You didn't hear a gunshot, but there is suddenly a crimson dot on your father's chest. It begins to grow bigger.

Stunned, your father falls to one knee, almost in slow motion. The light has faded from his eyes by the time he hits the ground.

You try to scream "NO!" but you think you've gone temporarily deaf, because you still hear no sound.

You spot the man who murdered your Father, laughing a few yards away. He then turns and runs. Blinking back tears of rage, you give chase, firing your gun wildly. You try to take aim, but in your anger you miss him entirely.

You chase the man through the desolate forest, where the desperate cries of Pokemon and Humans alike can be echoing around you, all the way to Sandgem town, which lies about a mile from Twinleaf.

Finally, the smoke gets to you, and you fall over, coughing. You try to get back up, but someone jumps out from a bush, and pulls you in. As you struggle, the man puts a hand over your mouth and signals to be quiet. You silently agree, and together the two of you watch more and more Rocket Members run by.

Finally, the man turns back to you. You begin to struggle again and whisper, "Let me go, I'm gonna KILL them!"

The man shakes his head and says urgently, "Listen to me! Team Rocket's completely taken Sandgem Town. The police are on their way with Champion Cynthia, but until they get here, going into Town is a one way ticket to hell! Do you understand?"

You grudgingly nod. "But...who are you?"

The man sighs. "I'm Gary Oak. I'm the one they're after."

"But why?"

"Because I know secrets that my Grandfather Samuel kept from them for a long time. And, because I have this."

He holds up a small parcel wrapped in cloth. Attached to it is a note.

"What is it?" You ask.

"No time," Gary says quickly. "The note explains everything. I want you to take it, keep it safe."

Then he pulls out a Pokeball from his belt. "Take this to. This is my oldest, most powerful Pokemon. It will protect you, to the death." Although he gives a feeble attempt to smile, you can see the remorse in his eyes. "I won't be needing him anymore, but tell him I said goodbye."

"Wait!" You shout, but then Gary charges away, pulling out what appears to be an UZI.

He shouts over his shoulder. "Run! I'll hold them off! Find somewhere safe, and whatever you do, DON'T LET THEM GET THAT PARCEL!"

Gary begins firing his weapon. Hesitantly, you jump from the cover of the forest and run for your life, tears beginning to roll down your cheeks again. Several men start to shout, firing their own guns as well. And then...

Silence. Cold, deadly silence. Refusing to allow your mind to process what must have happened to Gary, you sprint into the night/

* * *

You are hiding in a small cave you used to play in as a child, reading the note attached to the Parcel.

"DEAR READER,

I_f you are reading this, I am most likely dead. I can only pray that has not fallen into the hands of Team Rocket, because that would mean certain chaos for Earth. Enclosed in this parcel is an Odd Keystone. Using this in the proper manner will allow you to obtain a Spiritomb, one of the few Pokemon on Earth that has any hope of defeating the Legendary Mewtwo. There are three Spiritombs known to exist, One is owned by Champion Cynthia, One resides in an alternate dimension, and one can be found somewhere in Sinnoh, with the help of this keystone._

_Exactly two people alive today can be trusted with this Keystone: Champion Cynthia and Ash Ketchum. Do not let anyone else know of its existence._

_You could very well be Earth's greatest hope against the most powerful evil ever known. You must not fail._

_Singed,_

_Gary Oak_

Suddenly, your watch beeps. It is midnight, on July 19. Today is your birthday. You sob, knowing that today you were supposed to receive your very first Pokemon.

Then you realize you still have the Pokeball that Oak gave you. Examining it, you toss it lightly into the air. A brilliant flash, and…

"Eevee! Eeveeeeeee!"

Somewhat surprised, yet relieved, you cannot help but smile. Gary Oak's oldest, most powerful Pokemon; You would not waste its talents. Looking up at the sky, petting your new partner, you make a silent vow to one day destroy Team Rocket, once and for all…..

* * *

**CHAPTER 1**: THE MAN IN THE BLACK CLOAK

*Five years later*

Cynthia is staring down at her latest opponent, who is on his knees, moaning.

"No…. I couldn't have lost! NO! I'm begging you, give me another chance! PLEASE!"

Cynthia says apologetically, "I'm sorry, Jack, but you can't fight anymore. Please leave, you can try again in a few years."

Jack looks crazed. " No, no, no! I CAN'T HAVE LOST! I've worked too hard for this, too long, IT'S IMPOSSIBLE!"

Cynthia sighs and presses a button on the side of her throne. "Security, we've got another non-believer."

Jack is now so devastated, he's practically foaming at the mouth. He lunges at her, screaming, "YOU CHEATED! YOU MUST HAVE, I COULDN'T HAVE LOST!"

Jack's fist is less than a foot away from Cynthia's face when he freezes in midair. Cynthia doesn't even blink.

He begins to glow blue with aura as Lucario uses force push. Jack is thrown against a wall, and before he can get back up two huge Machokes run in and hold him down.

As Jack begins to struggle, one of the Machokes pinches him on the neck, knocking him out. The other slings him over its shoulder like a sack of potatoes, carrying him off.

Once Jack is gone, Cynthia begins to giggle. Lucario looks at her with a questioning look. Cynthia laughs and says, "you have to admit, it's those kind of people who make our job so much less boring."

Lucario seems to agree, because it begins to chuckle as much as a blue whatever-it-is can.

Suddenly, they both hear a loud BANG on the other side of the door; Lucian must be fighting another opponent. Cynthia hopes he'll win, she's getting a little sleepy and wants to close down for the night.

But the loud noises from the battle are beginning to intensify. Lucario's ears perk up. Through the thick metal door, Cynthia can now faintly hear Lucian yelling, "B-but… how? How did you do that? No trainer is that strong, THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!"

Cynthia is puzzled. However powerful Lucian is, he's never a sore loser.

"Lucario," she murmurs. "Check out what's going on in there."

Lucario presses his paw to his temple and begins sensing the aura of Lucian and his challenger. After about a minute, Lucario turns back to Cynthia with a shocked expression on its face.

Cynthia decides to hold her ground and wait to see what happens.

There is a final crash on the other side of the door, and then a pause. Cynthia calls back Lucario and prepares to send out Garchomp.

Suddenly the door flies open and Lucian staggers in. His palm is on his forehead, and he appears exhausted.

"Cynthia…I'm so sorry. He's here for you. I d-don't know what he wants, but he said he didn't want to fight me. He said he j-just wanted to talk…to you. I tried to stop him, but he was so strong…Cynthia…"

Before Cynthia can ask who he's talking about, Lucian collapses on the ground and someone else steps through the door. Lucian's challenger has arrived.

Panic spreads across Cynthia's face.

'Well hello, Cynth,' Tyler says. "Long time no see."

* * *

You slowly sip your coffee and reminisce about how you got here.

You can distinctly remember the night your parents died, the night your town was all but destroyed, the night you met your best friend.

The night you made the decision that turned your world upside-down.

After attending your parent's funeral, you had run off to start your quest. Nobody noticed you were gone. Nobody cared.

After traveling for a week, surviving on berries and Eevee's protection, you decided you needed some kind of plan.

After a while of thinking, you had decided the most important thing right then was to gather up your Pokemon team. No matter how strong Eevee was, it would never take down all of team Rocket on its own. So after defeating a few rookies who underestimated your talents, you made enough money to stock up on pokeballs.

Before long you managed to catch a Heracross. Then a Chimecho. Then an Aipom. The list grew and grew. Once you had a good-sized team of about eight or nine, you held off on catching until you had enough money for a ticket to Hoehn.

There you caught a few more Pokemon, like a Ralts that you grew especially close to.

But then you began to realize that you couldn't live your life on nothing but rookie battles. So you made your way back to Sinnoh, where you started looking for a job.

A whole two years had passed since the raid. Finally you were employed by the most amazing family you could ever imagine.

You remember the night perfectly. It was in the middle of winter when you stumbled into Solaceon town, and it was nighttime. A blizzard was coming, you were tired, and you hadn't eaten in days. You'd been wandering in the woods and the Pokemon you were carrying were nearly starving to the point of death. You had stumbled up to the Day care center and knocked on the door. You didn't want much, just shelter for one night and enough food to keep your Pokemon alive. The kind old man who had answered the door was amazed by your selfless act and had ushered you in.

Once you were inside, you were greeted by the most beautiful woman you had ever seen.

"Oh, hello!" she exclaims. "Nice to meet you. I'm Mayflower Thomson. But you can call me May."

After chatting with May and the old man , Bernard, you discover that they have been searching for someone to help them run they Day care shop.

"It would only be a part-time job." Bernard explains quickly. "In exchange for looking after all the different Pokemon and running odd errands for May, We could pay you with a room, two meals a day, and a small salary."

He sighs sadly. "Me and my wife are going into retirement soon, so Mayflower's going to need all the help she can get."

You don't hesitate long. "I'm in."

May smiles happily

"Oh I almost forgot!" Bernard adds. "You won't be alone. My two Granddaughters, May's children, are here to help as well!"

He turns and calls to the staircase, "April! June! Come down here, there's someone I want you to meet!"

Down the staircase come two girls, apparently May's children. The youngest, June, appears to be about Seven or Eight. She is blonde and a little too hyper for your taste, but you soon grow used to her. You, however, have eyes only for the other Thompson Girl.

When April comes down, you can't believe she could be more than a year older than yourself. She has long, wavy brown hair like her mother, and beautiful Sapphire eyes. When she sees you, she blushes and giggles.

You grin. "Oh yeah, I'm definitely in."

So here you are, nearing you're third year with the Thompsons. Every night May entertains you and the girls by telling wonderful stories of how she used to travel the Hoehn region with her two best friends before coming to Sinnoh eventually.

The last few months have been pretty boring, but you still don't regret taking the job;

You have plenty of money, food, and shelter.

You are close to Team Galactic's Sinnoh base, where you hope to find some leads as to the going-ons of Team Rocket.

You are living in the same house as the girl of your dreams and work with her every day (over the course of the years you've been in Solaceon Town, you and April have steadily fallen for each other).

And, most importantly, you have slowly put together an almost unstoppable Pokemon team.

Not bad for a kid.

Your watch beeps again, jerking you out of your thoughts. Time to get to work. You drain the rest of your coffee and exit the Pokemon center.

You arrive back at the Day Care a few minutes early. The living room and kitchen are empty, but taped to the refrigerator was a note.

_Stephen,_

_Gone to visit Bernard in Canavale City. I'll be back by sundown. Please go into the city and buy everything on the shopping list below, and you can have the rest of the day off. Any city Kirlia knows will do._

_-May_

Stephen read over the note again to make sure he hadn't missed anything. It made sense that May was going to Canavale; her mother had passed away recently, and Bernard had decided to retire in Canavale. He was getting old, so May visited him frequently.

When she said "any city that Kirlia knows" she was talking about which cities Kirlia knew how to teleport to.

You hear a few thumps, and look up to see April coming down the stairs. You walk over, smiling, and hug her.

"Hey, good morning." You say softly. "I didn't know you woke up this early."

She shrugs. "Mom's gone all day, so I figured I'd get some extra work done."

You grin. "Good for you, Miss Responsible. Hey, listen."

You explain your situation to her. "So, anyway, I get off early, and I was wondering if you wanted to…spend some time with me in the city?"

April's eyes widen. "Of course!"

You laugh with relief. "So I'll pick you up at…How about five?"

She stands up on her tiptoes and kisses you on the cheek. "See you then."

You sit there for a while, sort of stunned.

You're back at the Solaceon Pokemon Center, but this time you don't have the time for coffee. You're working. You need to get six Pokemon out of the PC for your trip. First of all, you definitely need Kirlia.

You also decide you're going to want some of you're powerhouses, because you've heard of people in some cities getting mugged more and more often these days.

You end up bringing Heracross, Typhlosion, Umbreon, Flareon, and of course Eevee.

Stepping outside, you also realize you need to decide where to go. Kirlia can teleport to Hearthrome, Veilstone, and Sunnyshore.

You decide to go to Hearthome.

* * *

Cynthia is staring in horror at Tyler.

"No!" she shouts. "No, no, NO! You said we'd never see each other again! You said you'd never follow me, even when I became the Champion! YOU SAID WE WERE DONE!"

Tyler's easy expression didn't shift as he admitted, "I was wrong."

He is not the same Tyler Cynthia remembers from her childhood. His sleek, black hair has grown wild and long. He has traded in his black cloak for a leather jacket, black pants, and a gray top hat.

However, what is most disturbing is a red, crescent- shaped scar that twists down his face. It cuts across one eye, which seems surprisingly un-damaged.

But now one of his eyes remains a bright emerald color while the one on the scar has become an icy blue-gray.

"Take it easy, Cynth'. I already told your genius here that I don't want to fight. He just wouldn't let me through without letting me mop the floor with him, though."

Seething, Cynthia growls through her teeth, "I. Told. You. Never. To. Call me that."

"Oh, sorry," Tyler says, not sounding apologetic at all. "So do you want to talk, or do I have to beat you to get your attention, to?"

"You won't win!" Cynthia laughs, managing to calm herself down. "I'm the CHAMPION, idiot."

Tyler sighs. "And you're doing an excellent job at that, sweetie. Now try not to let it go to your head. Oh and please keep in mind that you might be the champion, but you're only the second best trainer in Sinnoh."

Cynthia is pretty sure one of her eyes twitches before she throws a Pokeball into the air.

"Go, Garchomp!"

Tyler rolls his eyes and decides not to bother with an overused catchphrase.

He tosses a ball into the air, and Salamence appears.

Cynthia decides to play it safe, because she doesn't know how strong Salamence has grown since she last saw Tyler. Salamence and Garchomp had always been rivals, since they were Bagon and Gibble, and now they were both itching to fight.

Cynthia looks at Tyler, waiting for him to make a move, but he gives no indication that he's even in the battle. But then, that was always how Tyler did things. He liked to sit in a corner, watch how things play out, before he sprang into action. Some people thought he was a coward. Others thought he was a Genius. Cynthia knew he was both.

Suddenly, Salamence springs into the air, circling the battlefield. Cynthia looks back at Tyler, but he has not moved. That's when Salamence strikes.

It dives out of the air, flying directly toward Garchomp.

Garchomp barely dodges to the right, and Salamence flies off to the side, out of control.

Cynthia laughs, until she realizes that striking Garchomp wasn't Tyler's plan.

Before Garchomp can even recover from its sudden feign, Salamence spins around with unbelievable speed, Once again head for Garchomp. This time, it blasts a Dragonbreath attack ahead of it. And now Garchomp is cornered.

Thinking fast, Cynthia commands Garchomp to dive underground, and it once again dodges the attack by a hair. Salamence backs off and takes to the skies once again. Now Cynthia has run into a problem; Garchomp is trapped underground, and it has to come out sometime.

Then she gets an idea. As Salamence dives towards where Garchomp is hiding underground, Cynthia quickly shouts, "Garchomp! Giga Impact out of there!"

Salamence tries to stop, but even it isn't fast enough. Garchomp shoots out of the ground, glowing with energy.

*KA-POW!*

As the two hit the ceiling, the entire roof is blown off the building and they are both launched hundreds of feet into the air.

Cynthia laughs, but Tyler only smiles. That's never a good sign.

"And what are you planning on doing next?" He asks. Cynthia's face drops.

As the two Pokemon begin plummeting back to Earth, Salamence catches air under its wings and breaks its fall, virtually unscathed. It then darts after Garchomp with its paw glowing and Dragon Claws the crap out of it.

When Garchomp hits the ground, it leaves a crater so huge that Cynthia and Tyler are both thrown backwards.

Salamence isn't finished, though. It ruthlessly pounds Garchomp back into the ground with a Zen Headbutt, and begins torching him with flamethrower. Garchomp tries to retaliate, but it's still stunned from using Giga Impact. All this time, Tyler hasn't issued a single command.

Finally, he speaks. "Salamence, enough."

Cynthia is stunned. "B-but… how?"

Tyler smirks. "You didn't think that I've spent a single second of the last seven years doing anything but working to get better, did you? Now give up and hear me out, you know you can't refuse forever."

"NO!" Cynthia exclaims stubbornly. "I told you years ago that I'd rather die than go with you on your dumb wild goose chase! I HATE you!"

With that, she pulls out another Pokeball. The master of Sinnoh isn't going down without a fight.

THE END


	2. Chapter 2: Everything Changes

**CHAPTER 2**: Everything Changes

You're strolling through Hearthrome, spinning a Pokeball on your finger, with May's Delibird trailing behind you carrying all of your items so far. You sigh, wondering how much longer you'll be here, and see on you're shopping list, to your dismay, that you're not even halfway done. The next thing on the list is Black Sludge, for a sick Croagunk at the Day Care.

"Wonderful." You mutter sarcastically. Delibird doesn't seem to be pleased with the thought of lugging Sludge around, either. You're not even sure you know where to find said sludge…

"Where's all the ACTION in this city?!" You say to yourself. Just then you walk by a dark alley, and a group of shady-looking teenagers leaning against a wall begin to eye your Delibird suspiciously.

The oldest-looking one pulls out a Pokeball. You sigh again.

"I HAD to ask…"

**********

Cynthia was on her knees, moaning into her hands.

Never in her 22 years had she ever, EVER been defeated so brutally.

After Salamence beat Garchomp…

Xatu creamed Roserade,

Torterra crushed Gastrodon,

Scissor whipped Lucario,

Now Lapras had defeated Milotic.

And not a single one of Tyler's last four had even been touched.

It seemed like Tyler had an answer for every one of Cynthia's Pokemon.

But not this next one; her next Pokemon was her secret weapon, and it had virtually no weakness.

"Go, Spiritomb!" Cynthia yelled, chucking her last Pokeball into the air.

Tyler's blue eye seemed to twinkle a bit.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot," Cynthia managed to laugh. "This little guy's what you're after, isn't he? Too bad he's gonna beat your ass first!"

Tyler sighs. "Language, Cynth."

Then he sends out his last Pokemon.

Cynthia stares as Tyler as he seems to go into some sort of trance. His blue eye suddenly begins to shine, as Tyler appears to be doing something similar to the attack Double Team. Suddenly there is a flash, and Tyler is standing there again. But now both of his eyes are now green.

Cynthia's jaw drops. Standing in front of her is a Pokemon never before seen in Sinnoh. A Pokemon hardly ever seen anywhere.

Mewtwo

Tyler smiles. "NOW will you listen to me?"

********

"Hey man, that's a nice-lookin' Pokers ya got there. Now where does a twerp like yerself find a Johty like that?"

"Sorry, buddy, he's not for sale."

"I wasn't lookin to BUY, brah."

The three older teenagers advance on you, with their Pokeballs out.

You don't back down. You can tell these are all rich kids, probably with really tough Pokemon given to them by their Daddies. But these losers spend all their time smoking, shoplifting, and trying to look cool, you can tell they don't stand a chance in a fight.

"Alright, tough guy," you say to the first one. "I'll cut you a deal; you can each send out a Pokemon to fight me in a three-on-one battle. If you win, I'll let you have my Delibird and everything it's carrying. If I win, I get 300 bucks in cash. Got it?"

The kid considers it for a moment. Three on one? It was worth it just to see the fight. You shake on it.

Then you grin. "Bad idea, buddy."

**********

You decide to send out Typhlosion, one of your strongest Pokemon.

When it appears, the teenagers seem to grow less sure of themselves facing a six-foot tall flaming wolverine. But they don't back down.

The boy on the left sends out a Rotom, the one on the left a Hypno. The boy in the middle, the one who spoke to you, sends out a Toxicroak. Impressive Pokemon, but nothing you can't handle.

As the three leap towards you, you command Typhlosion to use smokescreen.

Immediately its three opponents become lost and confused. There is a great commotion as the Pokemon struggle to find Typlosion, and they begin to get lost and confused.

You laugh as one of the boys shouts, "Dude, get your Hypno's ASS off my Rotom!"

"I'm trying, it can't see!"

Smirking, you say, "Typhlosion, show these sorry losers how it feels to be on the wrong end of a flame wheel!"

Typhlosion growls, which you interpret as a, "With pleasure…"

*******

Cynthia looks at each of the Elite Four, trying to read their emotions. They are all gathered at a huge conference table, known as the Table of Masters.

Located in the Sinnoh Hall of fame, it is reserved for emergency meetings only. In the center of the table is the same symbol as on the flag flying outside the castle: it is a Pokeball on a green backdrop, with a golden streak cutting through the center. The symbol of the Sinnoh Pokemon League. Cynthia designed it herself.

"Well then," Cynthia speaks up, breaking the awkward silence. "Of course, you've all met Tyler." And of course they had; if Tyler had given Cynthia such a beating, she can only imagine what he had done to the rest of them. The answer lies in their angry glares toward him.

"Anyway, I need to leave here, to help him finish what he started. He has to take down Team Rocket, and I have the Pokemon that he needs to do it."

Lucian speaks up. "So what's going to happen here while you're gone? I didn't know the Champion was even allowed to do that."

Cynthia recognizes immediately that Lucian is trying to get Cynthia to put him in charge. Ever since Wallace had gone to challenge the Hoehn league and Lucian had taken his place as Number Four, he had been trying to become the champion in whatever way he could.

Cynthia sighs. "That's what I called the meeting for. As of now, the Pokemon League is officially closed down."

Flint gasps, and Bertha asks, "Has that ever even been done before?"

"No," Cynthia replies.

"So how do you know it's even legal?" Lucian speaks up, eyebrows raised.

Cynthia frowns at him. "You know, Lucian, being ME has it's privileges. Who exactly do you think MAKES the rules around here?

Lucian turns away, embarrassed. "Oh."

Flint lightly punches him in the shoulder. "You're damn right, oh. So what do we tell all the trainers that come through here? You probably don't notice because Lucy and I take 'em all out but… a LOT of people come here every day."

"It's all been arranged." Cynthia replies, snickering at Flint's old nickname for Lucian. "Tomorrow this is all being released to the press tomorrow, and the Pastoria Resort has agreed to provide a free day and night to anybody already on their way. "

"So in other words… we get lives for once?" Flint asks

Cynthia shrugs and nods. "If that's how you want to put it…"

"Finally, a vacation!" Bertha exclaims. "I haven't gotten out and about in, what, maybe …thirty years!"

Cynthia turns to Aaron. "What about you, Aaron? You've been awfully silent."

"Well, it's just that…" Aaron mutters. "I-…I want to go with you."

Cynthia looks surprised. "Well.. I mean… I guess, well, sure! It's just……well, why?"

Aaron sighs. "My whole life, I've spent training to make myself better, I've never done anything to help anyone else. I just feel that, if I really want to make a difference, I should do what I can to help you."

Cynthia thinks about it. Finally, she says, "Of course you can come. No more questions? Good. Masters dismissed."

As they all leave to their separate rooms, Tyler catches up with Cynthia. "What was that?"

Cynthia rolls her eyes. "What was WHAT?"

"I know I said we should get together more people to help us," Tyler says. "But…he's just a kid."

Cynthia, surprisingly, laughs. "Just a kid? Just a kid in the Elite Four! He's in the TOP TWENTY, for God's sake.!"

"But still -" Tyler says.

"Besides," Cynthia cuts him off. "You owe me for talking me into this hell in the first place."

********

Finally the smoke begins to fade away. Rotom has already been taken out, and you managed to injure Toxicroak as well. You have to admit, these guys aren't as bad as they look, but you had been counting on the fact that they had never worked together in a fight before. And you were right.

"Hypno, use Ice Punch!"

"Typhlosion, counter it with Brick Breaker!"

(It just so happens that when you were in Hoehn, you and Quiliva spent quite a bit of time in the Fighting-type Gym on *Cant Remember The Name Right Now* Island)

Typhlosion grabs Hypno's wrist in mid-punch and slides past it, Brick Breaking it in the chest. Hypno flies back, barely able to stand. Then Toxicroak comes at Typhlosion. If someone asked you if one of these three was strong enough to take down Typhlosion, you'd have to put your money on Toxicroak: It has power, yet high speed, just like Typhlosion.

Toxicroak lunges at Typhlosion, the blade on its fist glowing, and gets a hit on Typlosion, but Typhlosion's tougher than that.

"Typhlosion, Sunny Day!"

Toxicroak staggers backwards as the whole street lights up and it's Dry Skin ability kicks in. Typlosion follows up with another punishing Brick Breaker.

The remaining teenager rolls his eyes. "Like my Toxicroak's afraid of a little sunburn…"

What an idiot.

"Typhlosion, another flame wheel, please."

Once again, *With pleasure.*

The added power of the sun finally takes Toxicroak down.

The boys groan as the kid in the middle calls it back into its Pokeball.

He looks at you.

"Sorry pal, but you aren't getting any money from the homes and I."

"I was afraid you'd say that."

" 'Sides, we gotcha outnumbered, and you cant fight us all day…"

The other two grin, pulling out handfuls of Pokeballs. They clearly didn't mind carrying around more than the standard six.

"Your Delibird, please."

You step back, wondering if you should run.

Then another voice comes out of nowhere.

"Give the boy his money."

Enter Fantina, Hearthrome City Gym Leader…

*******

"Fantina! We….we were ju –

"Enough! You boys know better to stage a battle in the middle of MY city! Not only that, but you'd then cheat the winner out of his prize! I'm ashamed of you."

Two of the boys take off running like little girls.

The third is left standing there, looking like he was going to wet his pants, as you and Fantina advance on him.

"Not so tough now, huh?"

Fantina laughs and pulls out a Pokeball of her own.

"So what were you saying, child?"

Pale faced, the boy stutters. "I…I was just g - …I was just going."

"That will be three hundred dollars…"

The boy quickly pays up and darts after his friends.

You turn to Fantina, shaking her hand. "Thanks a ton, you really saved my neck there."

She shrugs. "Oui, you would have figured it out. I was watching most of the battle, and you fought brilliantly. I'm sorry to say that we don't permit street fights in Hearthome, but I would be happy to challenge you in my Gym."

You shake your head apologetically. "Thanks, but no thanks. I'm actually really supposed to be working right now, so I have to get back to business."

"Ah, I see," Fantina says sadly. "But will you be free later today?"

"Actually, yes I'm coming back tonight on a date. Why?"

"Well, being a gym leader, I hear certain things." She says, winking at you. "Let's just say…if you're looking for a tough opponent, have your Pokemon ready tonight."

With that, she walks away.

"Wait!" you call after her. "What do you mean?"

"Hearthome is getting some very special visitors later today!"

Puzzled you ask, "Who?"

Fantina continues to walk and shouts over her shoulder, "I am not allowed to say! Check the news!"

With that, she turns a corner and is gone.

You sigh and turn to Delibird and Typhlosion. "Our lives are seriously screwed up."

Then you spot something on the ground, near where Typhlosion kicked the living **** out of Toxicroak. It just so happens that Toxicroak dropped some Black Sludge that had been smeared all over it during the fight.

You turn back to your Pokemon. "Let's go find us a TV."

*******

Chad, the boy with the Toxicroak, never found his friends. Instead, he returned to retrieve his Black Sludge, just in time to eavesdrop on the end of the conversation. Someone important was coming to Hearthrome? He, to, needed to find a TV.

*******

*NEWSFLASH*

Mike: "Good Morning, citizens of Sinnoh. I'm Mike, comin' to you live on channel Five. In breaking news, it has recently been released to the press that Cynthia, Champion of the Elite Four, has temporarily resigned from her position of the Elite Four. For an unknown reason, she and two anonymous acquaintances have begun traveling the major cities of Sinnoh, and have already visited Pastoria and Sunnyshore. Shortly following their visit, Leaders of the Gyms in both cities actually closed down their Gyms, and Volkner of Sunnyshore departed on his own vacation as well.

Meanwhile, people attempting to challenge the Pokemon League at this time as the climax of their entire Training careers are put on hold. We're going live to Reporter Ethan at the scene of these near riots, right on the Elite Four's Doorstep…"

Ethan: "Thanks, Mike. As you can see here, these outraged Pokemon Trainers around me are near ready to throw a full scale riot, and Elite Four Members Flint, Bertha, and Lucian struggle to keep the peace. Amazingly, the question that everyone here is asking does not have to do with Cynthia, but rather the first of the Elite Four; "WHERE IS AARON?"

Lucian, strongest of the Elite…Three…is now accepting questions, let's go see what he has to say…"

Lucian: "I am sorry, the only information I have been allowed to give to the Public is that this occurrence is only temporary, and that Cynthia and Aaron are perfectly fine. I'd like everyone to remain calm, and hopefully Cynthia will return from her….ah…detour with haste."

Ethan: "Well there you have it folks. Is Lucian telling the truth, or is speculation of a National Security Risk true? We can only wait and find out. Back to you, Mike."

Mike: "Thanks, Ethan. In other news, violent activity from both terrorist groups Team Rocket and Team Galactic have mysteriously grown over the last two months, and authorities are struggling to encourage citizens to remain calm. More on this story as it develops.

In the distant region of Hoehn, the civil war between Teams Magma and Aqua grows more intense, and families in some cities are forced to take sides in order to ensure their own safety. We're going to field reporter Carlene, live…"

**********

You look at your watch nervously. It's fifteen minutes to five.

"How do I look?" You ask Ampibom (one of those Pokemon who hates Pokeballs, he stays in your room or clings onto your shoulder most of the time).

It cocks its head and holds up a mirror. You flash a bright smile into it, trying to feel confident, and then step outside your room. You start to walk toward April's room when you hear a knock at the door. It's Tommy, a local kid.

"Hi, Mr. Stephen." He says. "Umm… I have this Chatot I need you to look after…"

You look around and sigh. "Um, yeah well…ok yeah, let's see it." After Tommy gets Chatot settled in the garden and turns to walk away, he jumps up and shouts, "Oh, yeah! April gave me a letter for you!" He gives it to you, and then scurries away.

Dear Stephen,

Guess what? I won two tickets to the next contest in Hearthrome on the radio! The only problem was I had to get there early, so you can just meet me there! I know you don't like contests that much but this is really important to me. We can finish our date afterwards, I promise!

Just be at row 1A at 5:10

Love,

April

You moan. You don't not like contests, you HATE them. Pokemon aren't meant to be dressed up and made to use their attacks as fireworks. Anyway, you have no choice but to go. And you have to leave soon, it's almost…

"Dammit!"

5:08. You toss Kirlia out and teleport as fast as you can.

*********

"And you're sure Fantina said THIS night?"

"Yeah, sir, I'm positive."

"Ah, then this changes everything…"

"You're going after the Champion, aren't you?"

"Haha, I couldn't care less about that spoiled brat. No, no, I'm much more interested in one of her…friends."

Giovanni chuckles to himself. "And after all those years of hiding, he is foolish enough to leave himself out in the open…"

"Can I ask WHO, mister…?"

"No, you can't. You've been a tremendous help, Chad, and around here, that kind of help does not go unnoticed. How would you like a place in our ranks?"

"No way, sir. I'll admit, I've done some nasty stuff in my life, but I'm not joinin' no…… what the hell is this place, anyway?"

"THIS, my friend, is where true geniuses are born. THIS is where all the real masters come from. THIS……is Team Rocket!"

Chad yawns. "Nice. Thanks, but no thanks, brah. I just want some dough."

"Well are you sure? Joining us would get you an instant promotion. Won't you even think it over?"

"I already told ya, man. I just want my money! That'll be a thousand bucks, please, and IN CASH. Actually, make it thirteen hundred, that skunk ripped me off earlier."

Giovanni frowns. "You see, Chad, that was very rude. And one thing we do NOT tolerate around her is Rudeness. Oh, and another thing we don't tolerate… is stupidity. And YOU, my friend, are so stupid that you just allowed a twelve ton Rhyperior to sneak up on you."

Chad spins around, and sure enough, Rhyperior is there, ready to attack.

"Rhyperior, please make it quiet. I have guests in the hall."

He closes the door and proceeds down the hall, making sure he is rather far away from the Conference Room. He then turns and rolls in to the entryway.

"Ah, Commander Jupiter! And Mars! How good to see you!"

Emotionless, Jupiter says, "Cyrus sends his compliments. I believe you two have met in the past?"

Annoyed, Giovanni mutters, "Yes, we…have had our differences. Isn't our man getting to be quite old, though?"

Mars can't help but crack a slight grin. "Not much older than yourself, I beleive."

"Well, no."

"In fact, there can't be more than…what, three years of age between you two?"

By now, Giovanni is extremely pissed off. But he manages to stay calm. He needs answers from these fools, and he knows from experience that torture is no way to get it from people like this.

"Well, enough of this petty small talk. Let's go inside and talk business while we eat."

*********

After eating and discussing business between the two groups, Giovanni has officially decided that he wants nothing more to do with Team Galactic. If this decision would lead to violence, then so be it.

"Well, ladies, it has come to my attention over the past few hours that your Team Galactic poses a threat to Team Rocket. "

Jupiter frowns. "Why, Giovanni, you won't even consider our offer?"

He shakes his head. "Actually, miss Jupiter, quite the contrary. But still…"

He holds up a gun. "Pleasure doing business with you."

*BANG*

Mars steps back, knowing she is next. "This will mean war between our two groups, Giovanni!"

He smiles coldly. "And who do you think will win, Miss Mars?"

The color drains from Mars' face as she realizes he is right. Team Rocket is a Terrorist group on a global scale. Team Galactic was nothing more than a cult in Sinnoh.

"You S.O.B"

Giovanni frowns again. "You know, Mars, rudeness is one thing we don't tolerate around here. Nor do we tolerate stupidity…"

*******

You're walking out of the contest hall, April clinging to your arm, and you decide it could have been a lot worse. Some of the trainers in there hadn't been half bad. Besides, it had meant a lot to April…

You're jerked out of your thoughts when you round a corner in downtown Hearthome and see a large crowd forming. That's when you remember the news broadcast you'd seen earlier. Could The Champion of Sinnoh really be here?

You and April manage to push your way through the crowd, which has gathered around Fantina's gym. "'Scuse me, sir," you ask a man next to you. "What's going on?"

The man shrugs. "I heard Champion Cynthia was in there, talking to Fantina. The guards aren't letting anybody in, though."

April turns to you. "Oh well. C'mon, Stephen, we can get autographs later."

You grin. "I'm not here for autographs… but yeah, you're right."

You start to shove your way back out of the crowd when something behind the Gym catches your eye. A silhouette slides behind the Gym, barely visible, and disappears from sight. You can't tell if it's a person or a Pokemon, but it's headed inside the Gym.

You decide to follow the figure. You take a step forward, and April grabs your arm. "Stephen, where are you going?"

"I thought……I thought I saw something. Um… I have to go find a bathroom… Tell you what, how about you meet me at the park? I'll catch up later."

Confused, she shrugs and says, "If you say so… see you then!"

You smile. "Thanks."

You feel bad about ditching April, but there's something strange going on and you know you won't be able to sleep until you get to the bottom of it.

Darting past security, you quietly chase the figure. You round the corner just in time to see a leg slide through the window into Fantina's battle room, almost fifty meters high. You briefly wonder how the hell he/she/it got up there so fast, but you dismiss the thought and begin scaling the cobblestone wall. You would call out Ampibom to help you, but the flash might attract attention. Some kids are playing in the woods just behind the gym, and you are really glad you wore black tonight.

Finally, you reach the top. That's when you look down. Of course, you wish you hadn't. The height is dizzying, and you feel like you're going to throw up until voices inside the gym distract you. Peering through the open window, you see a very strange little gathering. The first person you recognize is Fantina (How could you miss her hair?), but then you also pick out Aaron and Champion Cynthia. You figure the last person in the room must be the one you were following. It's a tall man wearing a leather jacket and a gray fedora-type hat. You lower yourself to make your shadow smaller, and begin eavesdropping.

"So you're sure you can't come with us, Fantina?"

"No, I wish to help, but I cannot leave my city for so long. I will stay here and protect my people."

"Yes, Wake said something very similar… we understand."

"Cynthia's right, Fantina. I know what It's like wanting to help people when you are in a position of power."

"And what of this Team Rocket? You say they have begun to make plans against Sinnoh as well as Kanto?"

"Well, that's what my...friend…Tyler says. And trust me, it's VERY unusual for him to be wrong."

"And I notice your FRIEND has been very silent. Is that usual for him?"

The man named Tyler speaks up. "If I were you, I would be quiet as well. After all, we're being watched."

And then he stares directly at you.

*******

"Sir, Team Galactic is proceeding with their operation, just as we expected. However, they've gone aerial."

Giovanni doesn't look surprised. "Do we have a stat of the vehicles they will be using?"

The new Commander, Alex Rawson, checks his intelligence report. "Three G-47's and two Black Hawks, sir."

"So in other words, five helicopters?"

"Well… yes sir."

"Mr. Rawson, you may not be familiar with the way things work around here yet, so let me fill you in. When people we dislike pull out a big gun, we pull out a bigger gun."

"So you're saying…"

"I'm saying I want Fighter Jets attacking Hearthrome city by yesterday."

*********

As the other three follow Tyler's gaze toward you, you involuntarily jerk backwards. However, your leg had fallen asleep during the conversation, and you end up tumbling off the side of the wall. As if she can stop you, Cynthia lurches forward and shouts, "Wait!" But of course she can't save you.

As you fall to your death, you manage to reach out and grab the edge of one of the bottom windows. A searing pain rips through your arm, but your fall is broken. Moaning on the ground, you check yourself to make sure nothing is broken. Aside from a pulled muscle in your arm and a couple of bruises here and there, you're fine.

Cynthia and Aaron arrive at the window just in time to see you scramble up and sprint away. They shout again, but you're gone.

**********

Watching all this is a motionless figure in the woods. He watches the boy who fell out of the window with wonder, surprised he is alive. Then he regards him as the one who he is looking for, and knows he is in mortal danger. Lifting his hood, Volkner walks back into the woods, already planning his next move.

**********

You sprint through Hearthome, ignoring the weird looks you're getting from locals, and begin to panic. Cynthia could have him arrested for plotting against three figures of authority, or eavesdropping on a federal conversation. You weren't sure if those were even laws, but you didn't want to take a chance.

Finally, you are out of breath and you decide you have gotten far enough away from the gym to take a quick break. Realizing you need to find April, you catch your breath and sprint off toward Amity Square. While running, you also remember Cynthia saying something about national security.

"Crap, crap, CRAP!" You groan to yourself. You could be charged with felony!

You force yourself to calm down, knowing that Cynthia couldn't have seen your face very well. Even if she had, she was not a cruel champion.

You arrive at Amity Square. April is sitting on a bench, looking pretty pissed off.

"Stephen, where the HELL have you be–

You grab her arm and pull her up. "No time to explain, we gotta go!"

As you struggle to drag a protesting April out of the park, you wonder if things could get to much worse. So, naturally, the sound of helicopters approaching proves you wrong.

**********

You are so flushed from your little escapade; it takes you a few seconds to take in the fleet of helicopters above you. Or the men jumping out of them, battle-ready. Or the guns on the sides being armed. Or the huge yellow G's on the sides.

Then, you put two and two together.

"HIT THE DECK!"

**********

Cynthia runs to the door, but Tyler grabs her arm.

"Leave him, we've got bigger problems."

To answer her puzzled expression, he points out the door to the approaching Choppers.

**********

You and April dive to the side as a missile destroys the bench where the two of you had been just moments ago.

"Run!" You shout. But you doubt April need further convincing. As you get to the gate of Amity Square, you try to decide what to do.

**********

You decide to haul ass out of danger. Grabbing April's arm, you sprint down the street towards the outskirts of Hearthome. Kirlia won't be able to teleport unless you're in a safe spot, so you head away from both the Death Choppers and Cynthia. You spot Aaron on the street, battling it out with two grunts at the same time. He notices you and tries to get you to slow down, but a huge roar from down the street interrupts him. A third grunt has hoped on a Motorcycle, headed straight for you.

"Oh, no." You mutter in disbelief. The Motorcycle gets closer. "OH HELL NO!"

Frozen in your spot, you manage to push April out of the way and brace yourself for impact.

But it never comes. You look around, surprised to be alive. The Grunt has been knocked off his motorcycle, and is writhing on the ground, covered in purple sludge. A monstrous, nasty-looking Pokemon is standing on the opposite side of the alley, eith the same sort of ooze dripping from it's…mouth?

Aaron comes over, smiling. "I guess Drapion likes you. Now listen up. You're not in trouble, but you'll do exactly as I say if you want to live."

Still a little stunned, you mutter, "Um…okay?"

*********

Looking down intently at his troops surging through Hearthome, Commander Saturn almost doesn't even notice the thundering roar of the jets overhead.

Before he can do anything at all, three J-27 fighters shoot past, dropping bombs that take out two of his helicopters and several men on the ground. They all bear bloodred R's on their wings. His chopper shakes, and the Sonic Blast just barely blocks out the four letter word Saturn screams.

"Sir, do we call a retreat?" asks his pilot, beginning to panic. They had never expected Team Rocket to strike in the middle of their operation.

Thinking it over, he calls back, "No, just signal the other two Choppers to take evasive action. We're the only ones retreating."

Gasping at his selfishness, another grunt in the hull yells, "But the other men! You can't just leave them!"

"Oh I can't, can I?" Saturn shoots the man in the face. "Just watch me."

********

You, Aaron, and April make your way through the city, grinding through grunt after grunt, trying to clear a path for civilians to get to safety. "Consider this your community service!" Aaron calls to you over the sound of Beautifly knocking a grunt thirty meters backwards. You're not sure if he's joking. Just when you think most of the danger has cleared out, Team Rocket's jets arrive.

"These SOB Terrorist just hate to leave you celebrities alone, don't they?" April blankly asks Aaron. He smiles.

"Well, they don't really have anything better to do, do they?"

Another voice comes from behind them. "I beg to differ."

The man you were chasing earlier pushes his way between you and April, looking at the sky where the jets were flying. Waving his hand the way a magician might wave a wand over a "Magic" box, one of the jets swerves and crashes into the other, sending both of them up in a ball of flame.

Ignoring your awed look, he grabs you by the shoulder and shakes you, hard. "Listen to me. Get the girl, get out of the city, and get to safety. We'll take care of the rest." You notice his eyes are two different colors, one blue and one green

Slowly nodding, you turn to follow his orders. But suddenly, he calls out and grabs you again. "Wait a minute! Five years ago, you met a man named Oak who gave you a very important item. Do you still have it?" You manage to nod stupidly again.

His blue eye seems to twinkle, but his expression does not change. "Very well. Meet me at the church tomorrow, six thirty sharp. Now what are you waiting for? Go!"

********

Alex Rawson looks out over the wreckage of his fighters, fuming. He knows he will be severely punished for this loss, even though he couldn't have prevented it. The only way he could possibly secure his safety was by taking out a friend of Tyler's, or Enemy X, as Team Rocket had codenamed him. Rawson's gaze settles on the two teenagers Enemy X had confided in. He smiles evilly and loads his AK-72.

********

You and April are sprinting through the city, and turn a corner just as a torrent of bullets whizzes by your ear. You spin around to see Rawson charging toward you, and if you stay in one spot any longer he's sure to get a hit. "Go, go!" You shout, urging April forward. She screams as another volley of bullets slices through her hair, barely missing her skull.

As the two of you practically fly down the alley, Commander Rawson follows, letting shots off wildly. You know the only thing keeping you alive is the fact that your pursuer can't aim half as well as usual while he's running. But as even more bullets rip through the ground dangerously close to your feet, you realize you're going to need some help. In mid-sprint, you toss a Pokeball into the air.

"Heracross, GET HIM OFF MY ASS!"

The huge bug-type Pokemon does a spectacular dive bomb out of the air, hitting Rawson point blank in the stomach with it's horn.

The good news: Rawson is down and being beaten to death by a kung-fu fighting bug.

The bad news: He's armed, and you've run into a dead end.

Alex somehow manages to get a good enough angle on Heracross to fire. The spray of bullets hits it square in the chest, knocking it back. Heracross is tough, but you fear the worst.

Backed into the dead end, you cling to April in what could be your last minute on Earth. Realizing his weapon is out of ammo, Rawson pulls out…

"You've gotta be ****ing kidding me.

An RPG.

You and April scream as the missile flies toward you. Just as you prepare to be blown to bits, a blue blur slams into the rocket. Turns out, Heracross' shell is bulletproof. You can only pray it's missile proof, to.

The explosion destroys most of the alley, launching the three of you backwards and through the now-smoldering wall. Your ears are ringing too loud to hear Rawson's footsteps, running off into the night.

But you don't care. You are relieved to see Heracross fainted but alive, and April lying on your chest. Aside from a few cracked ribs, everyone's okay.

"Hey, Stephen?"

"Yeah?"

"I had a great time, but…let's not do this again, okay?"

You manage to grin, and lay your head back to stare at the stars. "Let's go home."

THE END

*********


	3. Chapter 3: Prophecies and Payback

**CHAPTER 3**: PROPHECIES AND PAYBACK

Turns out, Team Rocket isn't the only group pissed off at you and April. Maybe it's the fact that you got away when so many didn't. Maybe it's the fact that you took out twenty-six of their grunts in one night. Maybe it's the fact that you were with Tyler and his gang. Or maybe it's not a fact at all, and they just don't like you. Either way, Saturn is out for revenge. And this time he would not fail.

Galactic Members are supposed to show no emotion when dealing with their enemies, but Saturn can't help but grin menacingly as his troops, cloaked in black, slide through Solaceon town like shadows. Before long, they all reach their positions, and Saturn gives the order to wreak havoc.

*********

Out of the cold, dense, foggy forest steps a single eerie figure. Volkner watches the advancing grunts and wishes more than ever that they could present him with more of a challenge. Then his eyes rest on Commander Saturn. At least HE might put up a good fight…Volkner forces himself not to get to distracted; he is on a mission to protect Stephen and the Thompsons. He slowly wades back into the night as Team Galactic shifts from hunter to prey…

*********

Volkner's are not the only eyes on Team Galactic. As Stephen's Noctowl returns from its nightly prowl, it regards the cult with intelligent eyes and flies back to warn its master…

*********

Finally, you are aroused from your dream by Noctowl. He finally shakes you awake just as the first Galactic flare is ignited. You run over to the window just in time to see the menacing assassins approaching, arming themselves with Flares and Torches.

"Oh, no, oh God, no!" You moan to yourself as you run back to your closet, grabbing your belt of Pokeballs. You're not sure if they are the same ones you took to Hearthome, but you don't care. Finally, you reach under the bed and pull out the same shotgun you used to protect your hometown, five years ago. Loading the magazine with a satisfactory CLICK, you prepare to make your stand. You vowed, five years ago, that no innocent life would ever again be lost because of you.

**********

You run into the hallway, ready to jump down the stairs, when the first flare is thrown through the window in the living room. You hear one of the girls upstairs wake up and scream. You are torn between what to do.

You burst out the door, firing your shotgun into the air to startle the Grunts. Praying it's one of your Powerhouses, you chuck a Pokeball into the air and almost cry in relief as Golem, the first Pokemon you ever caught, flies out. But as the giant boulder-pokemon starts playing giant bowling with itself and the Grunts' n Pokemon, the odds are still stacked against you. Several grunts are left standing, aiming guns at you.

"Golem, use Earthquake!" You cry out just before the bullets come soaring at you. The ground shakes so violently that most of the grunts drop their weapons. Before they can reclaim the guns, something strange happens. The guns begin to shake, then levitate, then fly backwards into the woods. The source of the Magnetism is a huge Pokemon that looks a bit like a Magneton you saw in Hoehn, except bigger and shaped differently. Standing next to it is a man wearing a cloak, and for a moment you think it is the man who you were chasing yesterday.

But no, this man has blond hair and two blue eyes. Gym Leader Volkner. "

You have no chance to question him as he shouts, "Magnezone, Thunder!"

Hell rains down on all the Galactic Grunts in the area.

"What are you waiting for?" He asks calmly. "Protect your hometown!"

Afraid you don't have fighting-fit Pokemon in your belt, you decide to stick it out with Golem. Three or four grunts surround you and Golem, ready to fire or attack. You know you'll need to get tricky to make it out of this.

Hands in the air, ready to surrender, you whisper, "Golem buddy, remember what we practiced?"

It smiles as much as a boulder can.

"Hey, quiet down! You're our prisoner now!" In the instant that he steps forward and lowers his gun, you spring backwards. Golem grabs your already-outstretched arms and spins you around, protecting you from the blazing guns with its rock-hard body. As the Pokemon leap forward to attack, Golem uses a Protect combined with Stone Edge. Huge, razor-sharp rocks surround the two of you, creating a ring as Golem shields you.

Hearing the commotion, Commander Saturn runs over

"What's going on?"

"Um, sir, we were trying to take the boy prisoner, and…"

"Damn," Saturn mutters. He turns to the Grunt. "Team Galactic takes no prisoners."

"So how do we…*gulp*…kill them?"

"Leave that to me."

Saturn takes out a Pokeball, but before he can use it a blast of electricity knocks it away.

Saturn turns to see Volkner standing a few meters away, Luxray crackling with power.

"Ah, Volkner, here for a rematch? I haven't seen you since…well since I beat you and took your badge!"

"Oh, yeah, I'll be needing that badge back, Saturn. League rules, we can only give badges to assholes if they can fight."

"That's pretty strong talk for a Gym Leader with such a crumbling reputation."

Luxray shoots another Charge Beam at him, but he sidesteps it and tosses out Alakazam. "If that's how you want to play…"

**********

Using an Earthquake to break your cover, you look past the KO'd grunts and their Pokemon to see April and May come out of the Day Care to enter the fray.

"Where's June?"

"We sent her to the cave where our customers' Rock Pokemon like to stay." May replies, sending out Blaziken as she talks. After three years of living with the Thompsons, you still marvel at the awesome power of May's oldest Pokemon.

This was the Blaziken that had fought by her side during her days as a trainer, when she traveled with the famed Ash Ketchum, and some other Gym Leader from Kanto.

April, taking after her mother, also pulls out her oldest Pokemon, Cleffable, and proceeds to take out several grunts.

"What should we do to help?"

You look around. "May, secure the Pokemon center, I'll make sure everyone gets out of their houses safely."

"And what do I do?" April asks.

"Do you still have that Floatzel, and that Whishcash?"

She nods.

"Use Cleffable to give you cover, and put out as many fires as possible. Tell you're Bunneary and Misdreavus to give Nurse Joy cover, we can't stop her from trying to save everyone but herself."

But as they split up and try to take out the invaders, it becomes clear that this is a lost fight. Reinforcements from Team Galactic have arrived, and Volkner is caught up dueling Commander Saturn. Victory seems impossible. But you've learned form experience that, when things seem far away, they are usual closer than ever. You fight on.

**********

Deep inside the Solaceon Ruins, an unbelievable power is brewing. Though no human or any other Pokemon could understand it, the inhabitants were all speaking each other in the same language, the Language of Souls, as some called it.

*These humans*

*These foreign humans*

*Dare to seek out*

*And wreak havoc on our land*

*Our land and those we protect*

*We grant our blessing*

*Our blessing we grant*

*These humans*

*Humans and their partners*

*These evil humans*

*These foreign humans*

*Master, we do as you command*

There is a pause, then another voice speaks up

"Summon the Forsaken. Destroy the intruders."

*DESTROY! DESTROY! DESTROY!*

*********

Volkner smiles and shouts, "Luxray, use crunch!"

Luxray darts forward and dodges Alazakam's attack, opening it's huge mouth and biting it on the leg. Alakazam howls in pain and tries to shake Luxray off. Finally Saturn exclaims, "Alakazam, use Fire Punch!"

When the attack lands, Luxray staggers back and appears burned. Saturn then follows up with a Recover.

"How annoying." Volkner mutters. "Luxray, make sure he doesn't do that again!" Luxray backs away and uses taunt. The aggravated Alakazam forgets about healing itself and launches another reckless Fire Punch without Saturn telling him to.

Volkner's plan is working. "Luxray, follow up with Sucker Punch!" Luxray darts forward again, this time skimming the ground to dodge Alakazam. It then springs up and nails the other Pokemon point-blank in the stomach.

The Taunt/Sucker Punch combo is one of Volkner's favorites, as it almost always guarantees a hit for the unpredictable but powerful dark type move.

Alakazam staggers and fall down, knocked out. Saturn angrily sends out Toxicroak.

Volkner pulls out Octillery, one of his oldest Pokemon, and engages the Toxicroak. He commands Octillery to use Hydro Pump, but Toxicroak dodges it and retaliates with a Focus Blast. Octillery gets thrown back, but sticks the landing with it's suction cups.

"Alright Octillery, use Psybeam!"

This attack is Super Effective against Toxicroak, but the huge frog is just too fast. It dodges a second time, and even though Octillery fires again and finally makes a hit, Saturn's Toxicroak has unnaturally high Special Defense.

"Toxicroak, Faint attack, now!"

Toxicroak disappears, and reappears a few seconds later, slamming into Octillery. As it tries to regain balance, Toxicroak hits it with another Focus Blast. Octillery goes down.

Saturn cackles and calls back Toxicroak.

Volkner tosses his last Pokeball into the air. "Let's go Electivire!"

Saturn smirks. "Finally, a challenge. But you of all people know how it feels to be stronger than everybody… except the ones who matter."

Trying not to let his emotions get the best of him, Volkner restrains himself from attacking Saturn before his third Pokemon comes out. But the man is armed, and he knows that Saturn's ego was basically all that keeps Volkner alive.

Saturn tosses a Pokeball out. Bronzong appears. That's when Volkner knows victory is his, because of a trick he taught Electivire years ago…

"Bronzong, use Gyro Ball!"

The attack is strong, but the odds are stacking against Saturn as Volkner now has the higher speed. Electivire dodges and follows up with a Rock Tomb. Bronzong is not only injured, but slowed even more.

"Electivire, use Rain Dance!" Volkner watches as the night becomes even darker and a Rainstorm begins to brew. Saturn looks shocked. Volkner can see that he has seen this strategy before. Well, at least he thinks he has.

"Electivire, use Thunder, now!"

Realizing that he is about to lose, Satrun yells desperately, "Bronzong, Iron Defense!"

Under normal circumstances, this might have saved Bronzong. But there was a reason Volkner was the strongest Gym Leader in Sinnoh.

As Hell rains down on Bronzong, Electivire grabs it and presses the two tips of it's strange tail to either side of Brongzong's body. As the Lighting hit it, the electricity is channeled through the Metal Pokemon. Bronzong faints instantly.

Volkner calls back Electivire. "I win."

Saturn looks sadly at his fainted Pokemon. Then he pulls out a pistol. "No, you didn't"

*Bang*

**********

You run back to the Day Care, hoping that the Pokemon inside are okay. You are relieved to find them sheltered in the cave with June, but the house is burning down. You wish you could try and put it out, but lives are at stake. You pull out two Pokeballs, which end up being Espeon and Leafeon, and tell them to guard the cave. You then run back to help the others.

The Pokemon Center has been taken, but Team Galactic is smart enough not to damage the expensive equipment. Unfortunately, two grunts have cornered Nurse Joy and her son, Tommy. You are shocked as you see a grunt put a gun to the head of the little boy who had spoken with you only this morning.

Just before the man pulls the trigger, Noctowl swoops out of nowhere and knocks it out of his hands. His partner turns and fires at you, but Ampibom is ready (Thanks to the fact that he stays out of his Pokeball). The little monkey springs off your shoulder and uses protect, blocking the bullets and causing a few to hit one of the men's legs.

The other sends out a Golbat, which attacks with an Aerial Ace. Luckily, Ampibom intercepts the attack and absorbs the damage willingly.

"Ampibom, use Payback!"

The Golbat is knocked out by the huge force, and the Grunt flees like the coward he is. You run to make sure the nurse and her son are alright, when something metal slams into your head. You fall to the ground your vision blurred, and watch as A whole other division of Team Galactic arrives.

Then you black out.

********

Volkner lies on the ground, near death, he feels no pain, but then again he can't feel anything. He floating in an endless void. So cold, so alone…

Then another figure appears. It's his mother. His mother who disappeared, Fifteen years ago.

"Volkner…" She whispers.

"Mom?"

"Honey, you failed."

"Mom…"

"You let me down…"

"I – I'm so sorry..."

"Volkner, It's over."

She begins to fade away.

"Mom? No, mom, Don't go!"

"Goodbye, honey."

*********

You wake up, a dull throbbing in your head. After Saturn finished with Volkner, he must have come over and knocked you out. You look around to see the residents of Solaceon huddled on the ground around you. All of the men have their hands on their heads, guns pointed at their backs.

You spot a grunt drag Volkner's body over to the gathering. May reaches over quickly and softly puts her hand on his throat, checking for a pulse. She looks at you and shakes her head sadly.

A tear drops from your eye. Volkner followed you home to save you, and now you'd never know why. He died protecting a small little town and a worthless Pokemon trainer.

A grunt speaks up, giving his status report to Saturn.

"Sir, we've stopped the last of the resistance. They put up more of a fight than we expected, but we've beaten them."

"And the Head Count?"

"Three dead, and seven injured."

"And what about these civilians, here?" Saturn motions toward your group.

"Um, those are the survivors, sir."

"What did I tell you earlier, Grunt? There ARE no surviors."

The man gulps again. "Y - …yes, sir."

Saturn walks away to survey the rest of the town.

Meanwhile, an eerie fog is beginning to roll in. The wind howls in a way that sounds somewhat lifelike.

Tommy whimpers and huddles up close to you. Feeling sorry for the little boy, you put your jacket around him. "It's gonna be okay, don't worry. We'll make it through this."

But it's hard to make him believe you when you can hardly believe yourself.

"Men, guns at the ready!" shouts the grunt in charge.

A brief sobs breaks out of April. The wind howls again.

"Load your weapons!"

The wind howls even louder. Tommy shivers against you.

"Ready!"

You fold your hands in prayer as you prepare for your own execution. The wind now picks up so that the ghostly howl is continuous. Thunder can be heard in the distance.

"Aim!"

Some of the grunts shift uneasily.

"And…" But the order doesn't come right away. The man has paused because the howling has suddenly stopped, and at the same time the Earth gives a brief rumble. "Creepy," He mutters.

The wind howls one last time, louder than ever, and lighting flashes not a mile away.

That's when they appear.

The first creature goes unnoticed by most of the people at first, you think you might be the only one to spot it. The ghostly figure slowly emerges from the fog, as eerie as can be. It's a four – legged blue Pokemon, but unlike any Pokemon you have ever seen. It stands on four legs about up to a grown man's torso, with a purple-ish cloud billowing from it's neck like a mane. You can't tell if it's more like a Cat or a Dog.

Then Lighting strikes at the edge of town, causing many of the humans to jump, but you are transfixed by the strange Pokemon that is appearing from the mist. By now most people have noticed it, but no one dares to speak a word. Then lighting strikes again not fifty yards away, and another figure emerges. Though it looks nothing like the first one, you can tell this Pokemon is related to the first. It is yellow-colored with a black face and stripes. You are sure this Pokemon must be some kind of Tiger.

Finally the third Pokemon appears. The Earth shakes lightly as a Lion-Like beast appears on the cliffs of the Solaceon Ruins. It looks down on you all, and you can tell it means business.

The first Pokemon steps all the way out of the mist and gives an oh-so tiny, yet menacing, growl. Then all hell breaks loose.

*********

The Solaceon Ruins explode in a spectacular Volcano, and the Third creature flies down, smoldering like the debris around it. A huge ball of fire shoots from its mouth and engulfs a group of Grunts. The Thunder-Creature Attacks the grunts surrounding the civilians, showering them in electricity. You duck, praying it doesn't kill you, but it simply passes over you along with the others.

Were these Monsters really only aiming to destroy Team Galactic?

Meanwhile, Saturn has spotted the chaos, and turns to runs like the coward he is.

Unfortunately for him, the first beast springs toward him and his guards. Many of them simply disintegrate, evaporating like mist before the monster. It pounces on him and, with one mighty sweep of its paw, knocks him unconscious, leaving three nasty scars across his face.

Even as Team galactic tries to fight back, even more help arrives. Tiny creatures swarm from all over the ruins. Though they appear useless on their own, they begin gathering in packs to tear apart whole Vehicles. You gaze at them, at first thinking they are some ort of bug. Then you realize they are actual rough forms of Letters of the Alphabet. You can understand enough of their speech that they are called "Uknown."

You can't held but laugh as energy beams come from every which way, sending Galactic Grunts flying like rag dolls.

As the Uknown surround the town, encasing it in a huge impenetrable dome, the three beasts gather the remaining Galactic Grunts. "Please…" Moans Saturn's hapless assistant, looking like he is about to wet his pants. You cover Tommy's eyes as the grunts are shown no mercy.

Finally, the three Beasts turn to the Citizens of Solaceon.

A loud, commanding voice speaks, but it isn't coming from any of the Pokemon. It almost sounds like it's coming from underground.

"One named Stephen, step forward."

Cautiously, you do as you are told.

"There is no need to have fear. We do not wish to harm you."

Nervously, you ask, "Who is 'we?'"

"We are the protectors of this once-sacred land. My brethren and I only seek to harm those who attack our territory."

"But, what exactly… ARE you?"

"Me? I have many names among Pokemon. Some call me the Finisher. Others call me the Fallen Soul. And some even venture as far as to call me The Devil, though I am far from it. You humans, however, have a different name for me. One which I shall not reveal to any but the One. These three are known as The Forsaken, and though they are created by my brethren, they are as real as any Pokemon. This is Raikou, Son of Thunder; Suicune, Gaurdian of Water; and Entei, Bringer of Volcanoes."

"Master," speaks a different voice. Everyone turns to see Raikou, crouched near Volkner's body. "This human died in attempt to further our goal. He is a lover of Electric creatures, and has a good hard. I sense darkness in his future, but I believe I can save him and help bring balance to his past, present and future."

"You wish to become the human's partner?"

"Yes, I request permission to join him. His heart has stopped beating, but his life is not beyond saving."

"… Very well. Do what you must."

Spectators watch in amazement as Raikou bends over Volkner and begins to send a small electric current through his chest. The light flickers back into eyes as he suddenly jerks and gasps for breath. Volkner is alive. Barely alive, but still alive.

Just as you begin to wonder if this day could get any weirder, the first voice speaks again.

"One named Stephen."

"Um…yes?"

"I have a prophecy for you."

You want to say. "Oh god, you've gotta be ****ing me," but you just saw this thing tear apart hundreds of armed men right before you eyes. So instead you say, "I'm listening."

"Dark times are ahead, for humans and Pokemon alike. My brethren and I can help to stop it, but we must be summoned by The One, and only when the time is right. But remember this, young one: When the night is Darkest and Humanity is at its knees, The Fallen Souls will be summoned by the greatest trainer on earth."

You nod like you understand, but inside you're thinking, "Wait, WHAT THE HELL?"

"The world will soon meet it's greatest challenge yet, young one, but you can help prevent it. I know you can, I've seen you do it before."

It almost sounds like the voice is teasing you with that last line, but you're not sure.

"Come, Suicune, Entei, Brethren, we are finished here."

The two beasts and all the tiny creatures return the way they came, and only Raikou remains. You have a feeling it will stay with Volkner for a while, now.

The voice speaks up one last time. "Stephen, there is one last thing you must know. When the Unbeatable Trainer summons us, he must answer a single question."

"……And what is that question?"

"He must tell me…my true name."

And then it is gone.

*********

You are looking over the burned wreckage of the Day Care, knowing it will never be your home again. You are trying to decipher the Voice's prophecy, but you can't make any sense of it. The Unbeatable Trainer? It must be talking about one of the four champions.

But the voice had also mentioned something about the question. What it's true name was. You had no idea, and hoped that this "Unbeatable Trainer" would know. The you remember something about a Legendary Pokemon you once heard of, called Celebi. The Voice had said something about seeing your future, knowing you could help save the world. Not SAVE the world, mind you, just HELP.

April comes up and wraps her arms around you, jerking you out of your thoughts. "All of the townspeople want to prepare a banquet for you, they saw how many men you took out." You shake your head.

"It's my fault they were here in the first place."

"So…what are you going to do now?"

"I can't risk putting all these people in danger again, and that…THING, won't be able to save them all if Team Galactic really gets serious about this."

"I think I can help with that," says another voice. The two of you turn to see Volkner steadily walking toward you, Raikou by his side. Thanks to the Legendary Pokemon, he has made a miraculous recovery. "My…friend, Tyler, wanted you to meet him at the church tomorrow morning, but if you're serious about leaving then we should probably get moving today."

"But will he already be there, so early? We said six thirty, and I don't even know the guy."

Volkner chuckles. "Trust me, the time doesn't matter to him. Once you meet him, you'll understand."

You turn back to April. "Once I go, I might not see this place for a long time…"

"Then I'll come with you."

"No, you won't. You're mom's gonna need all the help she can get rebuilding the business. Besides, with me gone, you're the only two great trainers to protect this little village.

She hugs you and sobs. "I'll miss you."

You whisper in her ear, "I'll come back, I swear."

You then turn to Volkner. "How soon can we leave?"

"As soon as you're ready."

You check to make sure you have all of your Pokeballs.

"Let's go."

You take one last look at the tiny town,. Wondering if you'll ever see it again. You walk into the woods, and don't look back.

THE END

***********


	4. Chapter 4: The Journey Begins

**CHAPTER FOUR**: THE JOURNEY BEGINS

So you set off into the woods with Volkner and his new partner. You briefly wonder how your life could get so messed up in just one day. Little do you know that the weirdness has only just begun…

As you journey through the night, Volkner explains the situation.

"I'm not supposed to tell you everything quite yet, but basically Tyler called you to Hearthome because of something Gary Oak gave you a long time ago. You still have it, right?"

You instinctively pat the spot in your bag where you always keep the little parcel. "I'm not supposed to show it to anyone but the Champion and a man named…Ash Ketchum?"

Volkner frowns. "Ash Ketchum? He was once a Champion of Kanto, and a great traveler, but I heard he died a while ago… Anyway, Champion Cynthia will be there. She's with Tyler and Aaron, they're trying to put together a team to… well, best let them explain."

"So… why are we walking? My Kirlia could just teleport us, I thought you knew that."

"Team Galactic has a new device that can actually track Pokemon who teleport great distances. How do you think they found you so quickly?"

You shiver as the night gets a bit colder, and suddenly wish you had gotten your jacket back from Tommy before you left. The Black of night seems to get darker, and you wonder how Volkner could tell where he was going. Then you realize, Volkner is following Raikou.

You press on through the night.

********

At what must be Three O'clock in the morning, Raikou finally stops. You wearily look up to see the road splitting into two separate paths. "Which way, Raikou?"

"Both paths lead to Hearthome City, but one is shorter than the other. However, the shortcut is more popular among trainers, and we must remain out of sight for now."

You want to stay out of sight, but if you're walking much longer you won't make it to Hearthome in time.

"Let's go Left," You decide. Volkner agrees. The journey goes on.

*********

About two hours later, you are nearly dead on your feet. You're accustomed to walking long distances, but even in your days as a traveler you'd never gone this far without rest. Finally, you stop, exhausted. Volkner turns to see you on the ground, and he falls to his knees as well. Raikou seems to be the only one with energy. He tries to urge the two of you to get up, but you are too exhausted.

"Stephen, Volkner, get up! We cannot wait here!"

The last thing you see before passing out, for the second time that night, is the huge tiger lifting Volkner onto its back.

*********

Volkner wearily blinks his eyes open, and the first thing he feels is wind blowing across his face. He looks up to see the landscape flying by, and realizes Raikou is carrying him.

"Oh, good, you're awake." It says.

"Why didn't we do this earlier?"

"I am not here to be your assistant, young one. This has been your first lesson; conserving energy is pointless if you cannot use it later. Not only that, but I decided that you were getting too lazy."

Volkner actually learned two lessons that day: the second was that even Legendary, all-powerful beings of myth had a sense of humor.

*******

You are shaken awake by Volkner as Raikou reaches the outskirts of Hearthome. The two of you hop off and begin to make your way through the city that is still smoky from last night's attack. You spot a surprisingly few amount of relief workers, and hope this is a sign that the city has recovered. You are wrong.

Walking down an alley in downtown Hearthome, you see that several buildings are still burning in some places. After the Two Teams collided last night, they must have broken formation and started a sort of riot. As you near Central Hearthome, you see more and more destruction, yet more and more people. Some are walking by smoking, shattered buildings without giving them notice. People were smashing through windows of various shops, stealing what they could and running away. What had happened here last night?

You look inside a building that you think you recognize and see a man with a gun trying to steal from a shopkeeper who had been very kind to you yesterday. Had it only been yesterday?

"Give me all the money in the register!" the thief shouts.

"P-please, sir…I have three children and a wife…" The shopkeeper appeared very frail, and you wondered how old he was. He appeared older than someone with three young children, that was for sure.

The thief socks him in the face. "I didn't ask for a sob story, now give me the money!"

Enraged, you pull a Pokeball. "Eevee, get this *******!"

The little Pokemon flies into the air. "Use Trump Card!"

An Ace of Spades appears in front of Eevee and shoots forward, slicing the gun in half.

The thief turns in anger, and then spots the little Doglike thing on the ground. "Cute." He sneers. You wish Raikou didn't have to stay out of sight.

"I'll show you cute," You say menacingly. "Eevee, use Hyper Beam!"

"Holy Sh –"

The man is blasted backwards through a hole in the wall. You hope he doesn't land for a long time.

The shopkeeper tries to give you money in thanks, but you shake your head. "You have kids to feed." With that, you walk away, a bit proud of yourself.

"That was nice, but let's try to hurry." Volkner mutters.

********

Finally, the two of you make it to the church. You peek through the windows, but nobody is inside. You spot a note under a rock by the door.

Volkner,

Gone with Fantina and Aaron to try and restore order in the city. Tyler is…well, he's doing his own thing. He should meet the kid at the church. If you get this before Six, find us near the Gym, we need all the help we can get.

-Cynthia

Volkner reads it twice and turns to you. "It looks like they need my help, but you should get Tyler. What he has to say is more important than a few small-time crooks being caught."

"Wait, who's Tyler?"

Volkner rolls his eyes and mutters, "The creepy guy who can make two jets crash blow up by flicking his hand."

"Ah."

"Are you gonna be safe here while I'm gone?" He teases.

You pat your Pokeball belt.

"See you later then."

Volkner walks back into the gloomy, ravaged city.

********

About ten minutes later, this Tyler guy still hasn't showed. You go over to the church and realize the doors are unlocked, but the building is still empty.

You shiver and walk into the church, thankful for the warmth. An eerie feeling comes over you as you gaze at the huge, empty building. You've never been to a church before, and while you're here you decide to have a look around.

At the end of the Church is a huge wall, filled with stained glass windows. At first, they appear to be randomly colored, but then you look more closely and see that they are pictures, depicting legendary Pokemon.

The first picture shows a Pink, floating catlike Pokemon in front of the world. But the world is Black.

On top there is some form of writing, and you soon realize that it is actually Uknowns arranged like letters. They spell, "The Beginning"

The second picture shows three Pokemon; the one on the left appears to be a Grass-like Cherub, while the one on the right looks like a human with a star-shaped head. The Pokemon in the center is the same pink floating Pokemon The picture is labeled, "The Guardians."

The next says, "The Abomination." It shows hundreds of humans in the background, circling a Pokemon that looks like it could be related to the one in the last picture. The differences are that this Pokemon is larger, colored differently, and looks much more violent.

The fourth picture is titled, "The Titans."

On one side, it shows Three monstrous Pokemon. A large, Red Creature with huge claws, a gigantic blue whale-thing, and a terrible Green, serpentine Dragon. They all have the same strange patterns on them. On the other side it shows three more Pokemon that you recognize. Dialga, Master of Time, is doing Battle with the Red thing, while Palkia, Master of Space, is fighting The Blue Pokemon. Giratina is fighting the Green dragon.

The Last Picture is the most eye-catching of all. At the Bottom, it depicts a scene familiar to him: The three legendary dogs, Entei, Suicune, and Raikou, are all leaping forward, and are surrounded by Uknown. You look up to see their source, hoping it will give you a clue as to what Pokemon the Voice was, but a hole has been punched through the center.

Disappointed, you step backwards to see the whole huge picture. On top, There is a Godlike Pokemon you recognize as Arceus, surrounded by clouds. But below it, it shows the Earth, Burning. This picture is unmistakably labeled "The End."

"Fascinating, Aren't they?" A voice shocks you out of your thoughts. You turn towards the source of the sound, a man coming out of the shadows. "Sorry if I scared you, but I tend to do that to a lot of people. My name is Tyler."

You hold out your hand. "I'm Stephen. Nice to finally meet you." He looks at your hand, unimpressed. You pull it back awkwardly.

"So these pictures, are they showing things that have already happened?" You ask, unable to take your eyes off the last picture."

"Not exactly," Tyler replies gravely.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that these pictures were formed. Two thousand years ago, before even the first one took place."

"So…what are you saying?"

"I'm saying these pictures are actually ancient prophecies. The first three have already happened but… the last two have yet to come."

*******

"But enough of that. Do you know why you're here?"

You shake your head. "Not really"

"It's because of Gary Oak. That Parcel he gave you, where is it?"

You nervously pull it out. Once again, Tyler's blue eye twinkles slightly. You notice for the first time the white scar that twists through it, and wonder if he can even see with it.

"Do you know what this is?" He asks.

"I know that it's an Odd Keystone and that it summons Spiritomb, but that's about it."

"This isn't just an Odd Keystone, it's the LAST Odd Keystone, or Soulstone, as it's officially called."

"So why is it so important?"

"If this fell into the hands of Team Rocket, it would mean Unthinkable Chaos. You want to know why?"

And then, before you can even answer, he shows you Mewtwo.

*******

After you recover from shock, Tyler starts explaining things to you.

"This whole thing started, obviously, with Mewtwo. Team Rocket had been trying again to capture it, and it needed somewhere to hide. Mewtwo is the strongest Pokemon in the world, but Damn technology these days…it was too much, even for him. The problem was, there are very few untouched places left on Earth. Mewtwo couldn't find a single spot in the world where humans couldn't find him, so instead, he made one. He gathered two of the Titans," Tyler motions to the 4th picture, "Called Groudon and Kyogre. They are masters of Earth and Sea, who exist in Hoehn. They, to, were being hunted down by terrorist groups in Hoehn called Team Aqua and Team Magma.

" Together, the three of them created an island paradise called Isla de Blanca, which means 'The White Island' in an ancient language. It was a place where Pokemon could live in peace and thanks to its position, it is impossible for electricity to work there. The Island remained a secret for many years. In those years, Kyogre and Groudon eventually went away, and many other legendary Pokemon came and left. With each Legend that passed, a new gift was added tot the island. Suicune purified the waters to make them crystal clear, Celebi and Shaymin worked together to make the forests lush and healthy. Mew – the Pokemon in the first two pictures - came to the island, and with it came hundreds of different Pokemon. The island was soon inhabited by the most powerful wild creatures on Earth.

All was perfect, so, inevitably, someone had to come along and ruin it all. This is where I came in…"

********

Tyler tells you an epic story of how he and his lifelong friend journeyed to the island, chasing down Team Rocket as they continued with their quest to capture Mewtwo. But when they near the island, Tyler's small ship suddenly lost control, as well as the Rocket fleet. This was because of the way Mewtwo and the Titans created the island.

Tyler and his friend crashed on the Island, a few Kilometers from where Team Rocket landed. They proceeded to fight their way through the unnaturally powerful Pokemon there until finally they reached Mt. Imperius, the giant, extinct Volcano at the center of Isla de Blanca. The crater of the once-volcano was where Mewtwo lived.

Though Tyler and his friend were already Post-Champion level trainers at the time, Mewtwo viciously attacked them, as he did with all humans who stumbled upon the Island. However this was a mistake, for when Tyler finally explained to Mewtwo how they were only trying to protect the island, Team Rocket showed up and captured Mewtwo with their newfound technology. As Tyler was captured, he convinced his friend to run away, and keep both of their Pokemon safe.

Mewtwo and Tyler were both thrown into a terrible prison, where they were beaten nearly to the point of death as Mewtwo was experimented on. In what should have been their last day alive, who should interfere but Giratina, Master of dimensions. In an attempt to free its previous master (even legendaries considered Mewtwo King as long as the were on Isla de Blanca), Giratina managed to bind the soul of the human and Pokemon who were both on the brink of death. This gave them just enough life to escape and get medical treatment, and though Mewtwo's soul was no longer trapped within Tyler, an unbreakable bond had been forged between them.

*********

"Now, before I go on…" Tyler interrupts his own story. "I'd like to give you a test. This will determine whether you are really who we have been looking for.

What…is the name of my partner who fled Isla de Blanca on that fateful day?"

You think long and hard. It seems like an eternity before you finally answer, "Gary Oak."

Tyler nods his head solemnly. "Let's go find the others."

*********

Tyler immediately finds Cynthia and the others and takes Stephen to them. He wonders if it was the right thing to do, bringing a kid into all of this. He hadn't even told Stephen half the story, half the danger.

When they meet up with Cynthia and Fantina, Tyler tells them flat out. "This is Stephen, the kid we've been looking for."

Tyler knows he is the only one who can hear Stephen mutter, "I wish everyone would stop calling me that."

Cynthia turns to Tyler. "Perfect. We still don't know where Aaron and Volkner are…"

"I do"

"Of course you do."

Tyler and Cynthia both roll their eyes. She is wishing he would just shut up and stop making them feel stupid, and he's wishing people would stop trying to treat him like a normal human.

*********

After a very rushed and confusing meeting with the Champion of Sinnoh, Tyler and Cynthia usher you away with a quick goodbye to Fantina. As you walk in the direction Tyler says Volkner and Aaron went, You ask, "So Fantina isn't coming on this…whatever it is?"

"No," Cynthia replies. "She's going to stay here and make sure the city is safe. Probably the same as most of the other Leaders."

"We're going to see EVERY single Gym Leader in Sinnoh?"

"Sinnoh, and possibly Hoehn as well."

There is a long silence as you press on through the foggy morning of the city. You finally break it by asking, "And what exactly is she protecting Hearthome FROM?"

It is a while before Cynthia replies, "We'll tell you on the way."

You stop walking. "Whoa, hold up! I'm not going with you on your crazy mission until I hear the whole story."

Cynthia stops walking as well, but Tyler doesn't.

"Oh, really? Because from what Volkner told us, you were pretty committed to leaving your town no matter what."

That shuts you up for a while.

But on the way to the others, you can barely hear Tyler and Cynthia whispering.

"We HAVE to tell him eventually."

"Yes, but not yet."

"We can't keep hiding things from him as long as he's with us, and we can't kick him out."

"Fine, we'll tell him EVERYTHING when we're done in Sinnoh, I promise."

********

Finally, Volkner and Aaron meet you on the Northwestern edge of town, after having taken out a whole gang that was trying to raid an apartment building. You wish you'd been a part of that action.

"Looks like we're done in Hearthome," Cynthia states.

"Yeah, where to next?"

"Wait," you stop them. "We're gonna leave, just like that?"

"Pretty much."

Aaron laughs. "They've been dragging me around like that for a week now. Better get used to it, buddy."

*********

Cynthia pulls out a map as you pass a sign that says, "NOW LEAVING HEARTHOME."

"So here's the plan. If I had to guess the next two strongest Gym Leaders, I'd put money on Candice and Byron. We're gonna have to split up: Aaron and I will go to Canalave, and Volkner and Tyler will go to Snowpoint City. Stephen, which team do you want to follow?"

You try to base you're decision on who you think will give you better answers during the trip, but in the end it comes down to your favorite city.

Where do you want to go?

You shrug. "I guess I'll go to Canavale, I have a friend who lives there."

She nods. "Then it's settled. You, Aaron and I will go to Canavale and talk to Byron, then meet Volkner and Tyler in Eterna, after they've met Candice. Got it?"

Everyone nods and/or mutters some sort of approval.

"Nice. Good luck, everyone." She winks at her brother. "Take care of Tyler, little bro."

Tyler sneers at her. "C'mon, Volkner. We'll be in Eterna days before they are."

Volkner laughs, and together they walk away. "Bye, everyone," Volkner calls over his shoulder.

You wave, but they've already gone, Raikou shadowing them the whole way.

"Tyler seems like he gets along with Volkner better than us." You observe.

"Yes, my brother and Volkner have been friends since they were kids." Cynthia says. "Volkner was always…well; the other kids never liked him. Our mother died when Volkner was young, and our father was an alcoholic. We lived in Kanto at the time, in Viridian City, and one month Volkner had grown incredibly frail from being mugged on the way home. Tyler's family had just moved in, when Volkner was about seven and Tyler and I were both maybe Ten. Tyler saved him from a brutal beating one afternoon, and Volkner never forgot it.

I never liked the boy, I even treated him as my rival, but Volkner followed him around like a dog. They were best friends, but Tyler's father, well…Tyler's father was even more horrible than ours. His wife had died long ago, and we thought he was just another drinker. We didn't learn the truth until…until Tyler's father became the Viridian Gym leader."

You begin listening more intently, already starting to grasp the end of the story.

"Tyler's father, the only relative he'd ever known, the only man he could truly love, was a madman. Tyler was, and still is, the son of Giovanni: Leader of Team Rocket."

THE END


	5. Chapter 5: On the Road

**CHAPTER FIVE**: ON THE ROAD

You look at Cynthia, waiting for the rest of the story, but she only puts her palm on her forehead and whispers, "I'm sorry, but the rest was pretty painful…for all of us. Maybe I'll tell you some day, but not now, okay?"

You nod. Aaron awkwardly speaks up. "Sorry to ruin the moment, guys, but we've gotta hit the road."

Cynthia rubs an eye an sniffles a bit. "Yeah, you're right." She perks up a bit. "Come on boys, off to Canalave!"

*********

The three of you near the bridge that connects Eastern Mt. Coronet to land. It had once been a popular tourist attraction for visitors to Hearthome, but Team Galactic had long since begun operations inside the mountain, scaring away anyone who didn't need to take the route.

You haven't met anyone yet on your journey, so all three of you are surprised when you see a traveler leaning on a rock by the bridge.

He waves. "Hey there! How's it going?"

Due to the season being Spring, ice in the north had caused the waterfall to double in size, and noise. You shout over the roar of the water, "Good! Yourself?"

"I'm doing fin, thanks!" He calls back, jumping off the rock so he doesn't have to shout. "You folks going through the mountain?"

"Yeah, we're headed for Canalave."

He whistles. "That's a long way. When're you planning on getting there?"

"Soon." Cynthia retorts, in an increasingly bad mood due to the lack of rest and dense mist coming off the waterfall.

He raises his eyebrows in mock astonishment. "Cool. Listen, I'm no hiker, but I've heard tell that Team Galactic went storming through there just last night, and if I were you I wouldn't be making a trip without some tough Pokemon of your own. Hey," he adds; "Haven't I seen your face somewhere before? You look familiar."

Cynthia turns away. "I don't think so, we've never met."

"No, I mean, like on T.V. Wait a minute, you're that Champion girl, Cynthia!"

Cynthia rolls her eyes. "Yeah, that's me. We're trying to keep a low profile, so would you mind not telling anyone?"

"No problem." He sticks out his hand. "I'm Frank." Suddenly, he starts laughing. "My first week in Sinnoh, and I've already met the Champion! That might be a new record." Then is face gets serious again. "But seriously, If I were you guys, I would go over the Mountain, not through it."

You try to thank him, but Cynthia cuts in and says harshly, "We'll be fine. We have to get going now." With that, she turns and walks into the cave. You wave to Frank, following Cynthia, and Aaron gives him an apologetic glance. "Don't mind Cynthia, she's just cranky 'cause we switched her to dry food…"

"I heard that, Aaron!"

*********

The three of you press on through the darkness, going deeper and deeper into Mt. Coronet. About fifteen minutes into the trek, you lean towards Aaron and whisper, "So what's Cynthia's deal with Tyler? She says they knew each other as kids, but she totally hates him"

Aaron shrugs. "Cynthia's one of the few who really knows anything about Tyler at all. From what us Elite four can tell, he's just a really, REALLY strong trainer who Cynthia has a grudge against."

That sparks your interest. "Exactly how strong?" Aaron sighs and shivers a bit. "You want an example? I've seen him beat trainers to crap without even looking at them, and that's without Mewtwo or his telekinetic ability. In his free time, Tyler challenges the League over and over for FUN."

You whistle in astonishment and make a mental note to talk to Tyler about the 'Unbeatable Trainer' prophecy.

"So you have no idea why they hate each other?"

"Cynthia doesn't like to talk about it, but from what I can tell they were huge rivals for years when they were children. And then, for some crazy reason, they fell in love. They must have been crazy about each other, because one day Tyler finally left her to hunt down Team Rocket, and she was devastated. All I know is that a long time ago she went from loving him to hating him in one day. So she freaked when he showed up and crushed her in a battle about a week ago."

You nod. "That's tough."

Cynthia interrupts your conversation by calling from in front, "Heads up, we've got some Zubat ahead!"

Sure enough, a swarm of Zubat flies by overhead, forcing the three of you to practically crawl. Once they finally all pass, the two of you run up to Cynthia.

"What was that?" Aaron asks.

She raises an eyebrow and points up. "Some Zubat swarmed."

"I understand that. I'm just saying…WHY?"

You look forward. "Those Zubat weren't taking flying lessons. Something scared them."

"Oh….Dammit," Aaron mutters, imagining how this would end.

Cynthia asks, "Why the Hell would something in a place like this scare all those Zubat?"

You continue to stare into the Eerie darkness. "I think we're about to find out."

Aaron shakes his head. "Double Dammit."

You sit there for what must be five minutes until a figure finally emerges from the shadows.

"Hello, children. Surprised to see me out and about so soon?"

"Oh no." You gasp.

Commander Saturn laughs and pulls out a Pokeball.

*********

You, Cynthia, and Aaron all pull out your Pokeballs. After three quick flashes, Drapion, Golem, and Garchomp are standing there, ready to fight.

Saturn shakes his head. "Silly children, think you can beat the great Commander Saturn the same way again? No, Stephen, I've picked up a new secret weapon since we last met."

You notice for the first time the scars on Saturn's face from when Suicune attacked him. They look similar to Tyler's.

Saturn takes out a Pokeball and tosses it into the air. "Allow me to introduce my new best friend…Fortress."

A Pokemon that looks like a floating metal ball appears, and you don't need a Pokedex to tell you it's a defensive powerhouse.

"Golem, use Hammer Arm!"

Golem's powerful arm swings at Fortress, but it spins away, much faster than the boulder. Drapion and Garchomp both fly at the Pokemon, but Saturn must have somehow raised its speed unnaturally high.

"Golem, hit it from behind with Stone Edge!"

One of the razor-sharp rocks hits it's target, but Fortress is so tough that it doesn't even flinch. You realize this is less of a battle, and more of Pin-the-Ass-Kicking-on-the-Fortress. And the Fortress is winning.

In anger, you shout "Golem, forget the Fortress and get Saturn!"

But as the boulder flies towards him, Saturn only shakes his head again. "Tut-tut. Children never learn. Fortress, use Double-Edge on these fools."

Fortress flies out of nowhere and rams into Golem, smashing it into the wall. The whole cave shakes on impact.

"Now, Fortress, let's try our new trick! Start with Gravity."

A wave of energy emits from Fortress, pulling all six of you towards it and holding you in place.

Saturn cackles. "Now Cynthia. That will be twelve million dollars and all the information I need, or I order Fortress to blow you all to heaven and back."

You gasp over the pull of the gravity, "Don't do it, Cynthia!"

Saturn turns to Cynthia, expecting an answer. She thinks long and hard. Finally, she responds by spitting on his shoes. "Go to Hell."

Saturn sighs. "If you say so…Fortress, use Explosion."

As Fortress begins to charge up, you desperately looks for a way out. The Pokemon are pinned to the ground, and even if Golem could use Earthquake it wouldn't hit Fortress. You realize this is it.

Fortress readies to detonate itself and…

A small figure flies out of the shadows and slams into Fortress.

*BAM!!!*

You lift your head, realizing that the fake gravity is no longer in effect, and look around. Fortress is lying in the ground, having KO'd itself. The thing that came out of nowhere is still wrapped around it, dazed but not knocked out. You see that it is a strange little Pokemon, Basically a red shell with a yellow head and four Tentacle-Like limbs.

Another figure comes running out of the inky blackness. "Are you guys alright?"

You realize it's Frank, the traveler outside the Cave. "W-what are you doing here?" you ask, still a little dazed from the explosion.

"Saving you. Now COME ON! You think Saturn's reinforcements didn't hear that Explosion? Let's go!"

The two of you help Cynthia and Aaron stand, and the Pokemon you thought was a backpack slides off of Fortress and back onto Frank's shoulders. They start to run away, but you stop and turn back.

"Just one more thing…"

As Saturn shakily stands up, temporarily blinded from the explosion, you pat him on the shoulder and make sure he's standing steadily. Then you wind up, swing, and knock him out cold. Satisfied, you turn and sprint with all your might.

*********

The four of you finally burst into the sunlight in half the time it took you to make it halfway through the mountain. Gasping with your hands on your knees, you are amazed to see Frank laughing through heavy breaths.

To answer your astounded glance, he shakes his head and grins. "I told you guys to go over the top."  
*********

While Cynthia's group is inside Mt. Coronet, Tyler and Volkner are hiking through the treacherous fog of Route 210.

"And you're SURE you don't have any Pokemon who know Defog?" Volkner mutters as they blindly feel their way up a ledge.

"I don't do HMs." Tyler replies.

"Of course you don't."

Despite the friendship between the two, the journey is very quiet. Morale is low due to the fog, and neither of them was ever talkative in the first place.

After another twenty or so minutes, the two spot a house looming out of the mist.

"Who in their right mind would live in this fog?" Volkner asks.

"Nobody, that's who. You don't remember who lives here?"

Volkner stares at the house with his brow furrowed, trying to remember. Suddenly his eyes widen in shock. "Oh God, you can't be serious…"

Tyler nods. "I'm dead serious."

"But why HER?"

"Have you forgotten who made Cynthia and me the trainers we are to day?"

Through clenched teeth, Volkner mutters, "Hell no."

"If you'd rather ask Lance…"

"Good point. Just keep in mind that I never liked the idea in the first place."

Volkner walks up to knock on the door, but it opens just as he raises his fist.

"Ah, Tyler! And little Volkner! How good to see you!"

"It's good to see you too, Wilma."

"So what brings you two gentlemen here on such a fine day?"

Volkner looks skeptically at the gloomy mist. "Tyler has a favor to ask."

"Well come on inside, let's have a cup of coffee and talk it over."

Tyler steps inside. "I don't drink coffee."

"What DO you drink?" Volkner scoffs.

"Water."

"So Tyler," Wilma begins. "What sort of favor might you ask of me today?"

"Well, you might have heard of how Cynthia recently took a break from her Champion duties."

"I have."

"Well, she and I have been gathering up some…some friends."

"Old friends?"

"Some of them. We're getting together all the strongest trainers in the world. We're going after Giovanni once and for all."

And I understand Giovanni is going after you as well?"

"Yes."

"Nobody ever wins in a two-way game of tag, Tyler."

Tyler pauses. "But you can't lose in tag if you're on base."

"So I suppose You've come here to recruit me as well."

"Actually, no. We have a special job for you, if you're up to it."

"And is this the "Base" you're talking about?"

"Exactly."

Tyler's blue eyes twinkles. "We need you to find Rayquaza."

For once in her life, Wilma is taken aback. "You know I've already tried, and failed. What makes you think I can catch it now, when even when I was young I could not?"

"Because you're Wilma Darcon, the strongest dragon trainer in the world."

"You're forgetting Lance and Drake. Everyone in my family is at least as strong as me when it comes to dragons."

Tyler shakes his head. "Maybe your father, but not Lance. He uses brute force, and I've never seen anyone battle with the same cunning and wit as you. Besides, you'll have your family's help, as well. We're on our way to Hoehn soon, and we can talk to Winona and Drake there. Lance has already contacted us. Are you telling me that you don't think even the Flying Four can take down Rayquaza?"

Wilma sighs. "You haven't seen that thing's strength."

"That's my point. I haven't but YOU have. Please Wilma, we need you. This could save the world."

*********

"You're a crazy old hag, you know that?" Volkner calls forward as he nearly falls into yet another crevice."

"I'm not THAT old!" Wilma calls back, laughing.

"Anyway, we're almost there!"

Sure enough, a valley soon opens up in the narrow path along the mountainside, revealing a huge flat clearing carved into the rock. Wilma must have used one of her Pokemon to slice off the top of a small mountain to make her own private stadium.

"Alright, Tyler, my old pupil!" cackles the senile old woman. "Let's see what you've added to that Emo little head of yours since I last taught you!"

Wilma takes out her first Pokeball. "Let's do this, Charizard!"

Volkner chuckles. "You still sure you want to battle TYLER?"

Wilma is skeptical. "You forget that I taught him everything he knows."

"No, you didn't teach me EVERYTHING I know," Tyler calls from the other side of the battlefield.

"Maybe not, but I didn't teach you everything I know, either."

With that, Tyler unclips a Pokeball and tosses it into the air.

Scissor appears, and looks at Charizard with surprise as it recognizes the Pokemon that had acted as its mentor when it was a Scyther.

"Just like old times, Scissor. Show Charizard how much tougher than it you've become."

Wilma smiles. "Alright, then. Let's get this fight started. Charizard, use Flamethrower!"

Scissor dodges the attack with ease and uses Sword Dance at the same time. Huge, glowing blades appear between its claws. It then retaliates with a powerful Aerial Ace.

"Hm. Charizard, use Sunny day!" The mist is cleared away from the mountains and replaced with sunlight, defeating Tyler's Aerial Ace strategy and powering up Charizard.

"Now use Seismic Toss!"

Scissor is fast, but Charizard gets lucky and gets a hold of it, flinging both of them into the air. Charizard tries to throw Scissor back down, but Scissor grabs it's leg and spins it around.

"How about you actually talk to your Pokemon, for once?" Wilma calls over to Tyler.

"My Pokemon are smart enough not to need commands. But if you insist…Scissor! Metal Claw!"

"Charizard, Dragon Claw!"

The two Pokemon launch themselves into a spectacular fight, clashing claws and swords and the like. Charizard is stronger, but Scissor is fast and has Swords. Finally, Scissor gets a ht on Charizard's stomach, and then gets its wing. Charizard comes plummeting to Earth, and Scissor smashes it with another Aerial Ace to make sure it stays down.

"Impressive, Let's see what else you have!" Wilma calls.

Tyler nods and sends out Frosslass, another good choice for dragon taming.

Wilma takes out her next Pokeball, and with a brilliant flash Gyarados appears. It roars competitively as Tyler sends out Dusknoir.

"Ah, I remember that thing," Wilma laughs. "Back when it was a Duskull. It never was very strong though, was it?"

"It doesn't need to be. Dusknoir, use Mean Look."

"Uh-oh."

Dusknoir stares at Gyarados evilly, and for a moment it can't take its eyes away. Already recognizing the situation, Wilma exclaims, "Gyarados, use Hydro Pump!"

"Dusknoir, Shadow Force that."

Dusknoir disappears just as the huge blast of water hits where it was.

Gyarados looks around, confused, but then Dusknoir appears in a tangle of shadows and throws it backwards.

"Now, Dusknoir, use Perish Song."

The Battlefield falls deathly quiet, except for a soft, sad tune emanating from Dusknoir. The color seems to start to drain out of the mountain range, and Wilma and Volkner shiver as it suddenly becomes cold. So, so cold.

Wilma can't recall Gyarados because of Mean Look, and it will faint soon if she doesn't. As the color and the warmth come rushing back to reality, Wilma shouts, "Gyarados, use Crunch!"

The huge serpent lunges at Dusknoir and takes a bite out of it's ghostly figure.

Tyler yawns. "Dusknoir, use Shadow Force…on that cloud up there."

Dusknoir promptly disappears, and reappears up in the sky, almost lazily.

"Tyler, what are you doing? Come down and fight!"

For once, Tyler almost smiles. "Umm….no thanks. Dusknoir, return."

Wilma realizes she's lost as Tyler sends out Bronzong as a Sustainer. She's been beaten by her own trick, a trick she taught him years ago.

"You ready to give up yet, Wilma?"

She manages to keep a light spirit. "Not on your life! Now let's see some REAL fighting!"

Volkner mutters, "Amen to that…"

Tyler checks his watch. "Well, your Gyarados has about…thirty seconds left, so if I were you I'd make it count."

Gyarados uses another Hydro Pump, but Bronzong uses Iron Defense and the water barely scratches it.

"Bronzong, Confuse Ray."

"Gyarados, dodge that! Now use Crunch again!"

As the huge monster's teeth crush down on Tyler's Pokemon again, he has no choice but to call it back. At the same time, the soft little tune returns. Gyarados begins to twitch and shake violently, and with one violent jerk, Perish Song knocks it out.

"Are you keeping score, Volkner?" Wilma calls.

Volkner, knowing the whole time that Tyler would win, seems as bored as ever. He looks up lazily and mutters, "Wait…what?"

Wilma rolls her eyes. "We'll just fight until I'm out of Pokemon. Go, Flygon!"

Tyler sends out Frosslass, finally starting to pay attention to what's going on.

"Alright, Flygon," Wilma calls. "Let's spice things up. Use Flamethrower!"

Frosslass, being a less evasive Pokemon, can't dodge it. Instead, retaliates with an Ice Beam. The two attacks collide in midair, showering the two competitors in steam.

Flygon starts to gain the upper hand, and just as it seems the flames will overpower the ice, Tyler shouts, "Frosslass, Ominous Wind! Now!"

Frosslass jumps back and lets loose an eerie, powerful gust. Wind, fireballs, and ice shards all rain down on Flygon, but before Frosslass can follow up with anything, Wilma commands Flygon to use Ancient power. Frosslass is crushed by the magical boulders, and Flygon quickly uses another Flamethrower to finish it.

Tyler is almost surprised. Volkner is in awe. "Nobody's beaten one of Tyler's Pokemon in, like, five years!"

Tyler mutters, "Seven, to be exact. I was going for ten." With that, he sends out Xatu. If Tyler decides not to use Mewtwo for this fight, Wilma realizes this might be the hardest part.

Wilma sends out Tyranitar. She now has the power of a double type match-up, and should theoretically win in every way, but she is still cautious.

"Tyranitar, use Stone Edge!"

Tyler looks at the huge rocks flying through the air. "Xatu…Night Shade."

Xatu smacks each and every one of the boulders out of the air with it's powerful attack, and before Tyranitar can attack again Tyler shouts, "Now, use Future Sight!"

As Xatu puts its wings to its temples and begins the attack, Wilma shouts, "Tyranitar, stop it with Dark Pulse!"

The black blast of energy flies at Xatu while it's helpless, but when it gets close it simply encircles the Pokemon and bounces away. Wilma is stunned.

Tyler looks up. "Oh, I forgot to tell you; Xatu's psychic abilities have grown so strong that it can block most attacks without even thinking about it. It has something like a force field around it's mind."

Xatu finishes the attack in safety. "Now use Wish!" Tyler calls.

Wilma smiles. She knows a way to get around Xatu's mind: a physical attack.

"Tyranitar use Dragon Claw!" She laughs as the monstrous Pokemon flies through Xatu's mental shield. But just as it swings it's Claw, Xatu motionlessly falls backwards. Almost in slow motion, Tyranitar looks down in midair just in time to see Xatu blast it with Night Shade from directly under it.

Tyranitar roars in pain as it does an amazing back flip in the air and lands with a thud. But Tyranitar's a tough Pokemon; it jumps right back up, ready to fight more.

Tyler shakes his head. "This thing just won't stay down. Xatu, Curse it."

Xatu begins to shake as some unseen force comes over it and begins sucking it's life away. But before it does any real damage to Xatu, the attack lays a curse on Tyranitar. An eerie shadow comes over it, slowly ebbing at it's health.

"So what's your plan now, Tyler?" Wilma calls. "Now I have the stronger Pokemon, and you just cut yours' health in half!"

Tyler squints his eyes in a knowing sot of way. "Not exactly. Look."

He points up and Wilma follows his finger to see little bits of stardust raining down from the sky onto Xatu.

"Looks like Xatu's Wish came true."  
Tyranitar flies at Xatu in anger, but Xatu blast it back with another strong Night Shade. On the ground, Tyranitar is hurt by it's Curse, and Xatu's Future Sight finally takes effect. Tyranitar weakly looks up one last time to see Xatu hit it with one last headshot Night Shade. Tyranitar is out.

Wilma calls it back sadly. Most people would be crying at this point, but Wilma s a good sport and she knows Tyler more than most people. She takes out her next Pokeball.

*********

Cynthia tiredly pulls herself over yet another boulder, and then collapses on it, breathing heavily. "I think…we've gone far…enough…"

Aaron sits down on a rock next to her. "You think…you think we lost them?"

Frank comes up behind them laughing. "God, you Sinnoh folk are so out of shape!"

You jerk your thumb back at them. "It's these Elite Four guys. Always sitting in a lonely little room with way to much time on their hands…"

Cynthia weakly lifts her head and sticks her tongue out at him.

Frank laughs again. "But still, you guys are lucky that at least you have a pretty cool Pokemon League. Our Champion back in Johto is kind of…"

"An Asshole?" Cynthia pipes in.

"Well…I guess so, yeah. You know him?"

"Know him? I've fought him. And it would've been a total shutdown, to. Garchomp schooled all of his dragons, but at the last second Lance used a damned Full Restore on his precious Dragonite. I had to pull out Milotic, and Garchomp never forgave itself."

"Too bad we need his help…" Aaron mutters.

You look up, suddenly interested in the conversation. "What for?"

Cynthia glares at Aaron. "Nothing."

"Cynthia, he deserves to know."

"Fine," she turns back to you. "We called on Lance for a special mission, a mission that only a Dragon Trainer could hope to complete. We asked him…well, we asked him to catch a Rayquaza"

You are shocked. You've only heard of Rayquaza in myths and legends. "I thought that was impossible."

It's supposed to be. But Lance is one of the greatest Dragon Tamers in the world, and he'll have help: Tyler and Volkner should have already asked his sister Wilma, and in Hoehn we're gonna talk to Drake and Winona. They're known as the Flying Four."

You think about it for a while. "But why do we NEED Rayquaza?

Aaron speaks up. "You've heard about the war between Teams Aqua and Magma in Hoehn, right?"

"On the news, yeah."

"Well, it's growing worse than anyone will admit to the public. Almost the entire region is engulfed in civil war, and if one of the Teams gets their hands on Groudon or Kyogre…there would be chaos."  
"So…you think Rayquaza can stop it?"  
"We're counting on it."

Frank stands up. "Well, I've officially decided that you guys are crazy. But I kinda like that. What do you say I tag along with you?"  
Cynthia and Aaron look at each other. "No."  
"Oh, come on! You folks say you're going to Hoehn, and I know more about that place than any of you. Besides, you guys sound like you're doing a lot of traveling, and I want to get in on that."

You size him up and say, "I think he should come. Look at him; He saved our lives, he lover traveling, he knows the land, and he's got a great Pokemon. Didn't you guys say we were scouting for strong trainers?"

Cynthia think about it and sighs. "Fine, he can come along for now, and if he turns out to be a good addition then he can stay. "  
Frank cheers and gives you a hi-five. "Thanks man, I owe you one."  
"Any time. Now what do you guys say we find some shelter and camp out for the night?"  
*********

Lapras falls to the ground, KO'd for the first time in living memory.

"Wow," Volkner mouths.

Wilma grins knowingly. A long time ago, she got an idea to give Garchomp an Anti-Ice strategy, and since then it has grown unstoppable against anything but other dragons.

The score is now 2/3. Wilma can't win, but she has come closer than anyone else in a very long time. And there was still a chance to tie.

"Go, Altaria!"

There was only one other Altaria in the world quite as strong as this one, and it was her sister, Winona's.

"Careful, Wilma!" Volkner exclaims. "Aggravate Tyler too much, and he just might pull Mewtwo out!" with that, he gives a "Hint, hint," kind of wink to Tyler, who shakes his head.

"That would make it too easy. Go, Salamence!"

The two Dragon types collide with an Ear-shattering *KABOOM!*

********

Far away, farther north even than Tyler and Volkner's destination, an old man sits outside a lonely bar in Snowpoint City. He is sitting in a rocking chair with a cowboy hat pulled over his eyes, playing a sad, melodramatic tune on a beat-up old guitar.

Despite his straight, long, snow-white hair and small bushy moustache and goatee that make him seem even older than he is, he is an extremely strong trainer. Not as strong as he has been when he was younger, but strong all the same.

He looks up from his chair slowly as he hears the thundering crashes of Tyler and Wilma battling. Yes, the ones he has been waiting for are on there way. Would he be able to join them? He wasn't quite sure. He was getting older with every passing day.

The man named Dallas brushes the hair from his eyes and continues to play his slow, sad song.

*******

After a long, hard fight, Altaria finally falls to the ground, exhausted. Despite her losing, Wilma calls her Pokemon back laughing. "That was the best fight I've had in years!"

Tyler nods. "Same."

"Well, boys, I've made up my mind. I'll go catch your Rayquaza for you on one condition: I get to keep it when you're done."

"As long as that's fine with the twenty ton All-Powerful monster who can silence two Titans of being with a single attack…" Volkner replies, "It's alright with us."

Tyler nods. "Just don't sue us when the dragon gets a bit tired of being your slave."

Wilma laughs. "Good. Well, you boys take care. Celestic Town is about a three hour journey down this road, Cynthia's grandmother has already offered to give you a place to stay on the way to Snowpoint and back."

Volkner nods as the two of them leave her house. "Take care, Wilma. And thanks again…for everything."

"No problem. Oh and boys, do me a favor?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't die."

Volkner manages to crack a smile. "We'll try."

*********

*THE NEXT DAY*

You and your group finally manage to pull yourselves over the westernmost stretch of Mt. Coronet, having cut past Oreburgh City to avoid detection.

You check your watch. 4:30. The sun hasn't even risen yet.

"Remind me again why we had to get up so early?" Aaron moans to Cynthia, rubbing his eyes.

Cynthia yawns and manages to say, "I'm really sorry, guys, but we have to cut through Jubilife and get to Canavale City before Seven O'clock, or people might start to notice us."

Frank, ahead of the group, seems to be the only one with much energy. "C'mon, guys! It's not even an hour hike to Jubilife, and Canavale is just beyond there!"

You grumble something unintelligible and keep walking.

*********

6:15.

You are lust leaving Jubilife City, walking like zombies. You hear Aaron moan and look up to see the large fishing canal between you and Canavale City, which is about a mile away.

"Ok, um…who has a big water Pokemon?" Frank asks, trying to keep spirits up.

Your only water Pokemon is Vaporeon.

Cynthia speaks up. "I've got Milotic. It can carry three of us…"

"I can swim, and if it's too far Vaporeon can pull me." You say wearily.

You pull off your shirt and tale a step into the water. "Damn…it's freezing."

"Can Flareon heat it?"

"Good idea, let's stick fire into some water and see what happens."

"Good point."

You close your eyes and dive in headfirst. After a few seconds, you pop up, suddenly wide awake. "Woo, that's freaking COLD!"

As you shake the water out of your short hair, Cynthia sends out Milotic. "Ha-ha, at least we've got a nice little ferry!"

As she jumps on, Milotic jerks its head to the side, playfully knocking her into the water. Aaron and Frank start laughing hysterically, until Milotic sweeps them into the water with its tail.

Everyone is happy and laughing for a few minutes, but your small group quiets down again as the chilling cold sets in.

As you swim, Canavale doesn't seem to get any closer. After maybe fifteen mintues, you can't paddle any longer.

Pulling out a Pokeball, you call, "Vaporeon, a little help please…?"

The aquatic dog-thing happily tugs you along, oblivious to the cold. But the air is now almost as cold as the water, and you wish you had stripped down to your boxers before getting in.

Another five minutes later, the end of the canal is within about two hundred meters.

You laugh with relief. "Hey guys, we're almost – what the hell…"

Some kind of current is slowly pulling you backwards. Milotic is to big to notice it right away, but after a few seconds it starts looking around, confused.

You look back. To your amazement, a whirlpool the size of a battle stadium is forming.

"Holy Sh – "

You are cut off as the water in the center of the whirlpool explodes, and three huge Gyarados appear, roaring. The closest one lunges at you.

"Milotic, Ice Beam!" Cynthia screams. The Gyarados is knocked back, then goes for Milotic.

The second one dives underwater. You look around, confused. The water is still for about two seconds, and then explodes around you. The Gyarados tosses you and Vaporeon up into the air.

You fall into the water, but Vaporeon remains suspended above the monster's gaping mouth.

"Vaporeon, Hydro Pump into it's mouth!" You call. Vaporeon does as told and is propelled backwards through the air. As it hits the water, the third Gyarados springs from the water and pounces on it.

"Vaporeon!" You scream. You dive underwater desperately, and are horrified by what you find.

The canal is much deeper than you ever thought; you can hardly see the bottom. Swarming all over are huge, deadly-looking Sharpedo, ready for a feeding frenzy, and about ten or twelve Gyarados are angrily rising from the bottom.

You spot Vaporeon a little ways away, having misses Gyarados' teeth except for a large cut on its shoulder. It shoots toward you through the water and tugs you to a small rock poking out of the water. You scramble on, and take out another Pokeball. As you pull Vaporeon up, you shout, "Jolteon, use Zap Cannon!"

Several Gyarados have started to circle the rock, and Jolteon can't hold them all off. "Jolteon, Volt Tackle into the water!"

As Jolteon shocks the water, the Gyarados back off and you run for it, calling back both of your Pokemon and swimming faster than you thought humanly possible.

Milotic is locked in battle with the first Gyarados, and with a final Ice Beam, it knocks it out and gives the others a chance to get away. The numbing cold is ebbing at your strength, and you can't swim much more. A Sharpedo shoots forward and grabs your foot, and you're glad you have hard sneakers. Just when you think you're dead, your hand finds land and you crawl forward. Cynthia and the others are just in front of you, collapsed on the shore.

With a terrifying roar, the lead Gyarados leaps out of the water and crashes just a few feet away from you, knocked back by an unseen force.

Limbs burning, more exhausted than you've ever been, you let your soaked head fall into the sand and black out just in time to see footsteps approaching.

*********

You awake to find yourself in a warm room, with a thick blanket wrapped around you. Your hair is still damp, but you've been dried off for the most part. You look around to see yourself sitting in a comfy chair, inside a small cottage. Sitting in a circle are Aaron, Frank, and Cynthia, all still asleep.

You notice that Aaron has a huge bandage wrapped around his shoulder, and Frank's head is wrapped in gauze. You hope the damage isn't as bad as it looks.

You hear footsteps and look up to see a man walk into the room.

"Ah, good, you're awake!" He exclaims. You reach down to rub your foot and realize it is wrapped in a bandage.

"W - …what happened?" You ask wearily.

He smiles. "You and your little group was attacked by a swarm of Gyarados in the canal, and the noise must have attracted some Sharpedo. Oh, but I'm being rude. Please allow me to introduce himself," He sticks out his hand, "I'm Byron, Mayor and Gym Leader of Canavale City."

Surprised, you take his hand. "It's good to meet you, I've heard a lot about you. When I asked what happened, I meant… well, how did we survive? Did you come and get us?"

He smiles. "You're too kind. Yes, I did find you and help get you to safety, but I wasn't the one to save your life."

"Then who was?"

"Oh, a man who lives just outside town. Actually, he's here now."

As if on cue, another man steps into the room. You are shocked as you recognize him.

"Tyler?"

The man who steps in looks confused. "Umm…no. My name's Riley."

After looking more closely, you realize that no, this isn't Tyler. This man is dressed in dark blue instead of black, and he has two green eyes. Also, no scar over either eye, and his hair has a blue tint.

"Sorry, you look like someone I know. Are you related to anyone named Tyler?"

Riley's gaze hardens slightly. "I'm an orphan, I don't have any family."

Embarrassed, you say, "I'm so sorry, I didn't –"

"It's okay, I'm used to it by now."

Cynthia groans and blinks her eyes open. When she sees Riley, she stifles a gasp but says nothing.

THE END


	6. Chapter 6: Brand New Enemies

CHAPTER 6: BRAND-NEW ENEMIES

Far off in space, a strange but powerful creature gazes at Earth with watchful eyes. It's old enemy is being summoned again, it can feel it. It's computer-like brain is quickly thinking, hard.

"Enemy identified…: Rayquaza. Location, Hoehn Region. Tracking GPS now. Initiating authenticity test…test complete, location confirmed. Ready to attack, all systems activated. Battle status…: negative. Enemy target too strong. Recommended strategy: wait. Commencing Stealth Mode…now."

The creature's strange brain shuts down in sleep mode for a long time, halfway recharging itself, while the other half stays alert. Finally, it picks up something in the distance.

Curious, it shoots forward with incredible speed. The object is actually several objects, one of the many meteor showers that batters Hoehn. Interested, the creature slowly processes an evil plan…

Tyler and Volkner come within sight of Snowpoint City, and eagerly trudge forward through the thick snow. Both of their feet are numb, and they're both hating life.

"So…cold…" Volkner shivers. Though he would rather die than admit it, Tyler is uncomfortably frostbitten as well.

A few minutes later, the endless snowstorm quiets a bit, and Volkner tells Raikou to find a cave and wait for their return. They cautiously enter the world's northernmost city.

*LATER*

"I'm sorry, guys. I know this is probably what Wake and Fantina told you, but I can't just leave. If there's a fight to be had, Snowpoint City will be ready, I can promise you that, but I can't join your dream-team…thing."

"Well, we appreciate your help, Candice. Would it be too much to ask if you gave us somewhere to stay tonight?"

"There's a tavern a little farther north in town, just past the temple. By all means, make yourselves at home."

"Speaking of the temple – I know this right is usually reserved for Champions, but – would you mind letting us look around in there?"

Candice thinks for a moment. "Well…I guess I can make an exception. Tyler IS the rightful Champion, and I trust Volkner not to blow it up either. Just don't spend too much time in there, the townsfolk might start to get suspicious."

Tyler and Volkner walk to the door. "Okay, then. Thanks again Candice. Oh and…one more thing?"

"What?"

"Aside from you, who do you think is the strongest trainer in town?"

Candice grins. "Only if you're sure you want to meet her…"

On the other side of Hoehn, You and Cynthia are having pretty much the exact same conversation with Byron…

"…But trust me, Cynthia. With my Gym and all its Steel Types, Canavale is a fortress. Invaders from the West are gonna go through hell getting into Sinnoh, and I while I can't go with you, I can have a small Naval Fleet ready in a month."

"We appreciate it, Byron, but it's not Western Invaders we're worried about. The biggest threat is already here."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. But I almost forgot! If you're looking for a powerful trainer, Riley has to be the best in Canavale."

"…Interesting. We'll talk to him. Come on, Stephen, we really should be going. Thanks, Byron."

As you exit the Gym, you catch up with Cynthia. "Cynthia, do you really want Riley coming with us? We're both thinking it…he's the spitting image of Tyler, and there's something about that you're not telling me."

Cynthia spins around, suddenly angry. "You really want to know? Fine then…Giovanni tried to kill Riley when he turned ten, just before they moved to Viridian City. He thought having two sons would cause conflict in his family."

"Sons? Tyler has a brother?"

"A half brother. Riley's mother left Giovanni when she realized what a terrible man he was. She tried to go back for Riley, but Giovanni had disappeared already."

"And Tyler's mom?"

"She died when he was born."

You are silent for several minutes. Then, "So how did Riley survive?"

"A Riolu who had followed him home saved him, gave Giovanni a nasty scar, and together they fled. To this day, that same Rioulu - now a Lucario - is his favorite Pokemon."

"Do Tyler and Riley know each other?"

"Tyler knows who Riley is, but Riley doesn't know Tyler and they've never met. Tyler wants it that way, for reasons he'll never tell anyone."

"I'm warning you, Rawson. Fail me one more time, and there will be dire consequences."

Persain growls hungrily at Commander Alex, who stands shaking in front of Giovanni.

"This isn't the Team Rocket you might have heard of as a child, Rawson. There is no margin for error. You're my last reliable Commander, and for my plan to be successful failure is NOT an option. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir."

A frail looking scientist rushes into the room. "Umm…sir, we've intercepted a string of transmissions between Sinnoh, Hoehn, and Johto…It appears that the, um, Flying Four are reuniting. They're going after…" He gulps. "…Rayquaza."

Giovanni smiles and waves the man out of the room. "Well, well. This is your chance, Rawson. Go alone to Hoehn, and trail Wilma and her crew until they lead you to Rayquaza. I expect those Galactic fools have already sent Saturn to gather it up. You no what awaits you, should you fail."

You are lying in your room at a motel in Canavale, thinking about everything Cynthia has told you about Tyler and Riley, when a knock comes at your door.

"Come in!"

Aaron enters the room, looking grave. "We've got a situation."

He leads you to a room downstairs. Inside you can hear someone moaning.

Cynthia steps out. "Oh good, you're here."

"What's going on?"

"See for yourself."

You step into the room to see a sad-looking father comforting a sobbing woman, sitting by a bed where a child lays. The little boy appears to be having some sort of seizure. You look more closely and realize he is having a terrible nightmare. Cold sweat beads his face.

"How long has he been like this?" You ask.

"Three days," The father replies. "Nothing will wake him; we've tried everything." On the other side of the small room you see a doctor standing next to a worried – looking Frank.

"How bad is it, Doc?" Frank asks unhelpfully.

The doctor looks at him, annoyed. "Bad. There's no disease on Earth that could have done this to him. It must have been a Pokemon."

"Darkrai."

Everyone in the room turns to see Riley standing in the doorway. He strides across the room in a manner that completely reminds you of Tyler. Riley lays the back of his hand across the little boy's forehead and pauses for a long moment.

Then, "Yes, definitely Darkrai. I'm going after it. The only thing that can save this child is a Lunar Wing from Cresselia, and to get that I'll need to go through Darkrai. This kid's life isn't in danger, but the coma he's in will only get worse until it permanently breaks his mind."

Following a loud sob from the boy's mother, Riley strides out the door.

"You sure you know what you're doing, going after something like Darkrai?" Aaron asks nervously. Riley pauses in the doorway, looking more like Tyler than ever. After a while, he mutters, "Lucario and I have locked horns with that monster a few times before. And this time, we're finishing the job."

After Riley leaves, Aaron looks at Cynthia. "Cynthia, can…can I go? I might get the chance to stop at Iron Island."

You're confused. "What? I didn't know you wanted to go there."

Aaron sighs. "I was debating whether to take a break from the team and train a bit on Iron Island, maybe catch some Pokemon. I love bugs, but I'll never be a great trainer unless I have a more diverse Team."

You raise your eyebrows. "A great trainer? You're in the E4, for God's sake!"

"You know what I meant. Besides, it's more than that: The reason I came with Cynthia was to help people, and this might be a good way to start."

"Well then," Cynthia cuts in. "If one of us is going, we might as well send someone else. Riley's going to need all the help he can get."

Riley is walking down the Canavale Dock, toward his private speedboat. Lucario is walking alongside him.

"Why did that kid call me Tyler, and why is Cynthia acting all weird around me?" He asks himself.

"Perhaps you will soon find out if you stay with them longer." Lucario says telepathically. Riley has never gotten over the strangeness of Lucario reading his thoughts.

"No. We're going after Darkrai, and that's final."

"Maybe we can do both." Lucario says with a knowing twinkle in his eyes.

Sure enough, a voice comes from behind them.

"Hold on, we're coming to!"

Aaron is running down the dock, with Frank tailing him.

"Absolutely NOT," Riley says forcefully. "This mission is for me and Lucario ONLY."

"Aw, come on!" Frank exclaims. "I promise you won't regret it!"

Lucario nods at him, and Riley sighs. "Fine. Just don't get in my way."

After he turns away, Lucario startles both Aaron and Frank by speaking into their minds.

"Please excuse Riley, he's not normally like this, he's just…been going through hard times lately."

When the two of them get out of earshot, Aaron mutters, "Wow…Riley is DEFINITELY Tyler's brother."

"So Giovanni is sending Rawson alone?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then he is an even bigger fool than I thought. Saturn, take a small fleet, follow the Flying Four, let them lead you to Rayquaza. You may attack them, but hold off until Rayquaza is within your reach. Let them take care of Rawson if he decides to interfere."

"And what about the Flying Four? Do I just let them go, or shall I kill them as well?"

"Let me deal with them, Saturn. Your priority is Rayquaza. You may take three ships, fifty men. Dismissed."

Saturn bows and walks away. Once he is gone, Cyrus flips open a Cell Phone. Not just any cell phone, but a special, untraceable phone that he had the Galactic Scientists in Eterna City whip up for him.

"Yes… Koga? I have a special assignment for you…"

Thousands of miles away, Hoehn Champion Steven Stone is waving away the Flying Four as they and their crew depart from Ever Grande City on Drake's ship, the Albatross.

Steven sighs. His day has been long and tiresome, and the stress of two of his greatest trainers has made it more so. The war in his country has taken its toll on him, and it was growing worse.

Steven looks up at the orange sky, darkening with the coming of dusk. He can tell that dark times are ahead, even darker than the one he is in. But Steven has learned from experience that things always get worse, before they can get better.

The night is always darkest before the dawn.

Steven is distracted from his thoughts when yet another one of Hoehn's common meteor showers. But after a closer look, he realizes that this is no ordinary shower. At its center is what appears to be a bright green shooting star, except it isn't disappearing. Steven recognizes the star all too well.

"Oh, God, no, no NO!" He mutters to himself as the star comes closer and closer to earth. He can't use a phone to warn Drake and the others, because the call would only be intercepted and make matters worse. Steven has no way of warning the world of the approaching danger, one of his oldest and greatest enemies.

Deoxys has risen again.

THE END


	7. Chapter 7: The Fight for Rayquaza

CHAPTER 7: THE FIGHT FOR RAYQUAZA

The Albatross rocks again as yet another bombshell strikes its hull.

"The ship can't take much more of this!" Winona yells over the gunfire coming from all around them.

Drake calmly sets a hand on the wheel. "She can hold out a bit longer."

The ship is now about a mile away from the Colossal tower where Rayquaza was said to live.

The three smaller ships tailing the Albatross are much weaker, yet much faster. They are slowly gaining on Drake's ship, and he has to make a quick decision.

"We need to turn and fight!" Lance shouts. "These men are faster than us, and they won't let up until one side is dead!"

Wilma shakes her head. "I fear that plan will result in our deaths, little brother. If we can get away on our Pokemon, the ship will go down, but at least no one else will suffer."

Winona steps in. "You're both wrong. If we just keep going and defend the ship with our Pokemon, we'll make it."

Wilma turns to Drake. "It's your ship, father, and you're wiser than all of us. What should we do?"

It takes Drake a long time to answer. He gazes sadly at an invisible object in the distance.

Finally, he sighs. "I agree…with Winona." He turns to the crew. "Stay on course, men! We'll make it to that tower, even if we die trying!"

Then he looks back at his family and takes out a Pokeball. "Let's show these pansies what dragons can really do."

Further off to the west, high in the air, another force is closing in on the tower. This one much smaller than the others.

Alex Rawson's one-man blimp is surprisingly less decorative than most Rocket vehicles, being just a single black balloon that resembles a floating bowling ball.

Rawson eyes his four pokeballs nervously; Giovanni hadn't allowed him to bring any backup, so these four Pokemon were all he has for protection.

He looks out over the crumbling ruins of the tower, hidden among which Rayquaza was said to be. Alex's plan is to simply let the Flying Four, or Team Galactic – whichever one gets there first – take down Rayquaza. He would than ambush them with his powerful Pokemon, and whip out a dark ball, claiming Rayquaza for his own.

Rawson had briefly considered keeping Rayquaza to himself and using it to lead a coup on Giovanni, but then realized that Giovanni was so powerful, even a legendary was a surefire shot of defeating him.

So Alex sits and waits as the wind quietly brings him toward his last chance of greatness.

However, other dangers are slowly coming into play, stacking the odds against not only Rayquaza, who sleeps peacefully and undisturbed atop his tower, but Agent Rawson, Team Galactic, and the Flying Four.

The first of these comes in the form of a man, an assassin who has slowly crept to the tower long before the others. He now swings himself through a window and onto an ancient staircase without a sound.

He does not know who these people are. He does not know what they have come for. All he knows is that his master Koga was paid by a man named Cyrus in a distant region to kill one of the trainers that is now approaching the tower.

His orders were surprisingly vague: go into the tower, stay away from the dragon at its peak, kill any one of the Flying Four; whichever one does not matter. Sensei Koga had also warned him that a Rocket Agent would be present, and instructed him to kill the man only if the opportunity presented itself.

The allows himself one of his rare smiles. The job is amazingly simple, for one that pays so high.

This man is not like other men; he is no hero, he is no villain. He is not obsessed with righteousness, yet neither is he bent on destruction. He has no friends and no enemies, and only obeys one man on Earth. And nobody, not even himself, is quite sure of his real name.

The man is known only as the Jackal, and his job is to kill.

"Alright, here's what we're going to do!" Drake calls to everyone not busy keeping the ship afloat. "Winona, you are to take the helm, use any Pokemon you can think of to keep this ship moving forward! Lance, you come with me, we're going into the air to hold off Team Galactic!"

"And what do I do, father?" Wilma asks.

He turns to her. "You, darling are going to have to face Rayquaza."

She is shocked. "On my own? Father, I can't-"

"Yes you can, sweetie," He cuts in, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I know you can."

Wilma takes a deep, sad breath. "Oh, alright."

Drake sighs again, staring off into space with dead eyes. "We're all getting to old for this, especially myself. You know, next week is my seventy-eighth birthday."

Wilma nods. "I know."

Drake looks into her eyes. "Wilma, the world needs you. In case we don't see each other again, well… I love you."

She hugs him. "I love you to." She looks at her father for what could be the last time, and turns to jump onto Charizard.

The Jackal slips through a hole in the roof, knowing he must continue to climb to find a vantage point. Sneaking up yet another flight of stairs, he realizes he is at the top of the tower. As he walks into dazzling sunlight, The Jackal sees one of the most spectacular things in his life.

Rayquaza is curled up on the center of the roof, snaked around countless crumbling columns, lost in a deep sleep. He takes another step forward, and realizes he is being watched.

The man whips around, and in a brilliant flash of light his Grovyle appears. Facing him is Alex Rawson who has sent out not one, but two Pokemon, a Swampert and an Exploud.

"Funny," Rawson says. "I would've thought an assassin would have been more, ah…stealthy?"

The Jackal sneers. "And I would have though an agent from Team Rocket would have been less ill prepared for a fight."

"That's commander, to you."

Grovyle steps forward, but Rawson shakes his head. "Tut, tut." One false move and I order Exploud to roar, awakening our little beasty here."

"That's suicide."

"That's just business."

The assassin raises his eyebrows. "That's how you want to play? Well then, I suspect you never saw me drop Toxicroak's Pokeball when I turned around."

Sure enough, Toxicroak appears from behind Alex, and stabs him with one of its deadly blades before he can even begin to look surprised.

Unfortunately, Rawson's scream of pain is enough to awaken Rayquaza.

The humonguos monster sleepily opens its huge eyelids, which resemble large, green sheets of metal. It sees the several Pokemon around it and is suddenly wide awake. It roars in anger, throwing itself into the air and smashing a huge hole in the tower under it.

Calling back Grovyle and Toxicroak, The Jackal calmly leans over Rawson.

"Sorry, mate." He says in his slight accent. "That's just business."

He then proceeds to dive off the building. Rawson is left to the wrath of one of the strongest, and most angry, beings on the planet.

Wilma is gazing at the strange approaching meteor shower when Rayquaza awakens. She is so distracted by it launching up from the tower and come crashing down on an unseen opponent, she doesn't even notice the Jackal jump off the edge and skillfully land between from the rocks down below.

"Oh, no." She mutters. Her already – impossible job had just become much harder.

Only a few hundred K's away from Earth now, Deoxys and his meteor shower approach Earth at an increasingly mind-boggling speed. Its alien brain hones in on the energy signature of Rayquaza's rampage.

"Target, sighted. Identified: Rayquaza. Estimated impact time: ten minutes. Power derived from meteor power source: four-thousand megawatts. Chances of success: 9999999999999 to 1. Initiating attack formation...now."

Swimming through the water with textbook style and speed, The Jackal grabs onto the lead Galactic ship's anchor and crawls up. As he jumps onto deck, several men point their guns at him, but Saturn waves them away.

"Ah, you must be the assassin, Mr….?"

"Call me the Jackal."

"Very well. Mr. Jackal. Welcome aboard my ship. As you can see, we are in a bit of the situation."

The assassin looks to the left, where Drake and Lance are riding Salamence and Dragonite respectively and have taken down Galactic's second ship.

The Jackal nods and sends out a Fearow. "Let me take care of them, you get to the monster. Oh and, by the way, I took care of your Rocket friend"

Saturn nods. "Your services are much appreciated, Mister Jackal."

"As is your money."

As Wilma and Charizard shoot toward Rayquaza, it finally notices them. Roaring in rage, it lets loose a huge blast of energy. Charizard just gets out of the way in time before the attack misses and lands on the tower, causing it to shake even more.

Wilma realizes all too late that she will never beat Rayquaza in aerial combat. She commands Charizard to dive out of the way, but Rayquaza attacks again, this time grabbing Charizard in its huge teeth.

Charizard roars in pain, and Wilma is thrown off. Though she is an old lady and not accustomed to these sorts of stresses, she manages to call back Charizard in mid-air. However, now Wilma's in trouble: she is falling, two thousand feet in the air, over the open sea, at the mercy of a huge dragon. As Rayquaza shoots forward to finish her off, however, a savior in the form of a meteor nails Rayquaza in the chest.

As Wilma hits the water with a painful *SMACK*, dizzy with aching bones and a piercing headache, she looks up in amazement to see a volley of meteorites pounding Rayquaza out of the air. Then something else comes forward from the meteor shower: a Pokemon unknown to her. It looks like some sort of alien, deriving power from the meteors.

As the thing continues to blast different beams of energy at Rayquaza, Wilma realizes she has to make a decision.

"Well, that thing can't be friendly." Wilma finally decides. "Go, Altaria!" jumping onto the hummingbird Pokemon, Wilma commands it to shoot toward the alien Pokemon.

Upon getting up close, she recognizes it as Deoxys, an alien virus Pokemon that could change its form upon contact .

Wilma watches in amazement, as Deoxys changes into its attack form in the blink of an eye. After blasting Rayquaza with a deadly Ice Beam, it quickly switches to defense form to block Rayquaza's next strike. It then switches to speed form, moves to a different spot.

Wilma realizes that Deoxys is not only powerful, but incredibly smart, too. She takes out another Pokeball and tries to imagine how on Earth she could defeat it.

Salamence and Dragonite are doing what appears to be a complex dance around the Galactic ship, though they are really attacking it. With their respective masters on their backs, they corkscrew around each other toward the bow of the ship, dodging bullets as they go. The two then split off to either side of the hull, dragging a devastating Dragon Claw along each side.

Then the two spring back up into the air, and launch their attack on the next ship.

Commander Saturn's crew is tossed about as Dragonite and Salamence launch a volley of attacks along his ship.

"Can't you DO something?" He shouts at the Jackal, who remains perfectly motionless. Finally, he replies, "A suitcase was sent to you before the mission. Do you have it?"

"Yes, its down below."

"I'll be needing it."

Saturn grins. "Corporal, fetch this man's luggage!"

Despite his old age, Lance sits on Dragonite, laughing. "This is TOO easy! It's like we're playing with them!"

"Keep your head, son!" Drake calls over the roar of the wind. "We're still in danger!"

"Bite me!" Lance shouts back, and commands Dragonite to go into a downwards spiral, simply showing off.

Drake finds it hard to believe that a man like Lance, well into his fifties, could stand to showboat hundreds of feet in the air on the back of a raging dragon. Though Drake admired his son's enthusiasm, he still held onto his understatement that they were getting to old for this.

He commands Salamence to follow Lance, then calls to his son, "Stop it, you're going to get hurt! Focus, you Idiot!"

Lance responds by raising his middle finger disrespectfully, not taking his eyes off of his target. His laughter almost drowns out The Jackal's gunshot.

Saturn whistles as the assassin's bullet hits its mark perfectly, and despite the fact that Lance was moving at a high speed, the bullet went directly through his temple.

Suddenly, The Jackal grabs Saturn's arm and roughly shoves him to the side of the ship.

"What the hell are you doing?"

In response, The Jackal grabs a buoy off the wall. "Hang onto this tightly."

Then he pushes Saturn off the ship.

It seems like slow motion for Drake as the sniper's bullet strikes Lance in the head, and he topples off Dragonite. The huge dragon spins its head around, unable to tell why its master has suddenly fallen off. Drake's shout is drowned out by Dragonite's roar in anxiety as it realizes its master is dead. Lance topples into oblivion. His body is never found.

Rayquaza and Deoxys are still locked in their epic battle, and Deoxys is winning.

As Rayquaza lay exhausted on its tower after the last hit it had taken, Deoxys begins to charge the killing blow.

Though it cannot speak, Deoxys says in its mind, "Goodbye, old friend."

Rayquaza lowers its head in defeat, and has never felt more helpless.

The ball of energy in front of Deoxys grows larger and larger, and Deoxys prepares to fire…

*BANG!*

Just as Deoxys launches the attack, a huge force slams into it. Rayquaza raises its head just enough to see Deoxys disappear, and its attack miss the giant dragon by only a few meters.

Deoxys is thrown out of the air as Wilma's Tyranitar dives into it and grabs on. Deoxys tries to levitate, but Tyranitar's weight is too much. The huge beast then lets loose a devastating Dark Pulse, draining Attack form Deoxys' energy.

Finally, the two topple into the water, and Deoxys shakes Tyranitar off. Unable to swim, Tyranitar founders in the water as Deoxys angrily prepares to punish it.

"Foolish savage, you dare – " but it is cut off as it realizes a huge shadow is looming over it. Deoxys doesn't even have time to change forms before a very enraged Rayquaza literally tears it to shreds.

As Saturn topples into the water he comes up sputtering just in time to see the Jackal dive into the water.

"What is wrong with you? Are you out of your mind?" He shouts in anger.

The Jackal points up. "I have specific instructions to keep you safe if I can. Sadly, the same cannot be said for you crew."

Saturn follows his gaze to see several devastating Draco Meteors crush his ship, incinerating everything on the deck. He can't imagine anyone could have survived.

"Now swim to the last ship," The Jackal commands. "We're getting away from this rock."

As Salamence and Dragonite land with Drake on the Albatross, Winona runs up to greet them. "Father, what happened?"

She stops and gasps as she realizes Lance is not with him. A tear trickles down from Drake's good eye.

Despite the danger of Rayquaza attacking her, Wilma rushes forward on Altaria to call back Tyranitar. After it is safe, she realizes the mighty Sky God is staring at her intently. Rayquaza growls and approaches lowly, opening its mouth as it gets closer.

Wilma shivers as she realizes, this is it. This is my whole life's work. And I may be about to die.

Rayquaza gives another growl, pauses for a terrifying momment, and stretches out its long, serpentine tongue, and then... licks Wilma's face. A sign of friendship.

Wilma sighs with relief. Her mission, and her lifelong dream, has finally been accomplished.

But she does not yet know the fate of her lost brother.

THE END


	8. Chapter 8: Thoughts of a Dying Atheist

**CHAPTER EIGHT:** THOUGHTS OF A DYING ATHEIST

(*Muse fans rejoice*)

As Alex Rawson lays dying, several thoughts rush through his head. The first of these, naturally, is how bad he is hurt. He can see blood all around himself, feel it clogging the back of his throat, see it blotting his vision, but he cannot lift his head to see the damage. For all he knows, Rayquaza has blown off his entire lower body.

Strangely, there is no pain. No pain at all. Just a strange emptiness that he had heard about from friends with near-death experiences. It was a feeling he had felt before. And filling that emptiness came more, less logical thoughts.

He thinks about a girl, the love of his life, whom he had left long ago. He briefly realizes he had never said goodbye.

Which leads him to think about Mudkip, now a Swampert, who he had barely managed to call back before Rayquaza attacked him. Mudkip had saved his life on a number of occasions, and due to the fact that Rawson had lived in hot place most of his life, Mudkip's water skills had become handy.

Which leads him to think about how hot he is, lying high in the air, and ironically wishes Rayquaza could have killed him in the shade.

Which leads him to think about the sun, something he had always marveled at as a child, and how it gave life to the universe.

Which leads him to think about the creation of the universe. He had heard the stories about how the God Pokemon, Arceus, had shaped the universe after descending from another god, supposedly an all-powerful one. A god that Rawson, being an Atheist, had never really believed in.

Which leads him to think about life. If no god had made him, what had?

"Well that's easy," he says to himself. "Life just formed on Earth by itself."

But that was crazy, life can't just _appear_ out of thin air.

"It could have come from bacteria on a meteor."

And where did_ those bacteria_ come from?

"Another planet with life."

And where did THAT life come from?

"…"

And, naturally, all these thoughts lead him to think about one final thing: Death.

He has no idea how long he has been lying here, but he can feel Death's cold grip around him. He faintly tries to struggle, but another voice comes from inside him

"Let go, Alex. Let go."

At first Alex tries to fight it. Before she had died, Alex's mother had always told him to never lose hope, to never stop fighting. But at the same time, Alex new that everything had to stop eventually.

Then he is scared. Being an Atheist, he had never believed in any sort of heaven. The only logical path would be to be flung into nothingness. His mind lost forever. But no, not even his mind would be lost. His soul. He would no longer think, no longer feel. Ever.

But then, despite his struggles, Alex realizes he has no choice. The light fades from his eyes as Alex Rawson's soul slips into the void.

As it happens, when Rayquaza finished Deoxys off, it didn't kill it. Well, not exactly.

In the blast, Deoxys was torn apart and reduced to little more than the virus it had originated as. Simply a large chunk of mutated DNA now, the remnants of Deoxys had been thrown into the tower with barely half a nucleus for a brain.

But for a Pokemon as powerful and intelligent as Deoxys, half a nucleus was enough to live. All it could feel was pain and rage. But it still felt.

Now the little green and red blob slowly oozes along the side of the tower, searching for a host. Anything, to keep it alive just a bit longer. It senses hone in on Alex Rawson's body, ripped open, bleeding, unprotected. But just barely enough.

Now the virus seeps toward Rawson, and slowly latches onto its new host, crawling into the huge gash in his side and entangling itself in his DNA…

Meanwhile, Rawson's half-dead soul rushes back to reality as it realizes something is wrong. He feels something touch his side, and manages to turn his head enough to see the alien virus mix with blood. His blood. Then the virus reaches his DNA, and begins absorbing itself into him. Then comes the pain.

Rawson writhes on the ground, suddenly searing in pain, but for some reason holds his tongue. Finally, the intensity of the pain becomes so great, he cannot contain it. Alex Rawson opens his mouth and lets loose a bloodcurdling scream.

*Several Hours Later*

Rawson awakes from unconsciousness. The first thing that he registers is that the light is gone. It is deep into the night, maybe early morning.

Then, he hears a voice.

_"Ah, good. You're awake."_

Rawson spins his head around. "Who's there?"

_"You really don't know?"_

Rawson thinks hard, trying to remember what happened before he blacked out. All he can recall is pain.

"…You're that thing. Deoxys."

_"Yes."_

"I though Rayquaza would have finished you off."

_"In a way_,_ she did."_

"What are you talking about? Where are you?"

_"Do you really want to know?"_

And then Rawson gasps as the horrible truth sets in. He lifts his head and looks at what should have been an enormous gash through his left side and belly. Instead, it is what appears to be a large, diseased-looking scab. It is colored the same as Deoxys' skin.

"No."

_"Yesssss."_

"No, no, no, no no no no no no NO! GET OUT OF ME! GET OUT!"

In sheer horror, Alex begins to tear at the alien armor that is now covering his wound.

_"I wouldn't do that, if I were you."_

Out of instinct, Rawson stops. "Why not?"

_"Because, no matter how much you may dislike it, you need me. And I need you. We are both on the brink of death, but two souls in one body, even half-souls, will survive and heal. We each have something the other wants. I have life to share with you to keep the both of us alive."_

"…And what do I have that you want?" Alex replies, almost afraid to ask.

_"Power. Ultimate power."_

"I don't understand."

_"Feel for yourself, Alex. Your senses are heightened, your muscles are strengthened, your mind is…enlightened. The blood that pumps through your veins is that of a superhuman. You are blessed with Psychic abilities your opponents could never even imagine. And this is only me in my weakened state. Alex, together, we are unstoppable."_

Then, with some effort, it raises Alex's body and makes it levitate.

_"Together, we are… DEOXYS, FINAL FORM!"_

THE END

_**That one was a little quickie...but hey, at least I'm updating again, right? I'd almost forgotten I had this story up here, so I have a couple new chapters I've written since I was last on the site. And, for the love of God, give me at least ONE fucking review! *angry face* ;)**_


	9. Chapter 9: On the Road Again

**CHAPTER NINE: **ON THE ROAD AGAIN

"Just a little father," Cynthia groans as the two of you trudge through the rocky terrain, coming out of the forest. Eterna City should be in your sight in a few minutes.

Over the trip back from Canavale, you have learned a lot about Cynthia and her brother. After their father had drunk himself to death and Tyler had disappeared, the two children – not even teenagers yet – had made it all the way from Kanto and to Sinnoh. They had gotten jobs in a small tavern in Jubilife City, and had made their way on minimum wage to become two of the greatest trainers ever. It's a story you can relate to.

"There it is," Cynthia gasps in relief, jerking you out of your thoughts. Sure enough, the small city lies only about a mile ahead.

Aaron vomits over the side of the speedboat yet again as it bounces over the four millionth swell. Riley looks ready to kill himself, between the seasick bug-catcher, the chatterbox backseat driver, and the meditating kung-fu jackal Pokemon, all crowding his once-peaceful boat.

"So where were you born?"

"Viridian City."

"Ooohhh….where's that?"

"Kanto."

"What was you first Pokemon?

"Riolu"

"How many Pokemon do you have now?"

"Three"

"Niiiice. What are they?"

"Lucario, Blissey, and the Gyarados I saved your ass from."

That finally shuts Frank up. Other than the occasional retch from Aaron, Riley finally gets a bit of peace and quiet. He wasn't trying to be mean; these were some alright guys. But he had never been a "people" person. He kept conversations short, because quite frankly he wasn't great at talking to people.

He actually wished that other kid had come. Stephan-something. He can't remember if Cynthia had mentioned a last name. Frank eventually falls asleep, and Aaron finally stops vomiting, either because he'd finally grown used to the sea or because he had nothing left to throw up.

Riley switches to autopilot, sets a course for iron island, and puts his hands behind his head, drifting off into the same meditation-like sleep that Lucario is in.

Volkner tilts his head back and opens his mouth in a wide O, showing how bored and annoyed he is right now. Though Tyler won't show it, he to is pretty pissed off at the girl in front of them.

Kaitlyn Frost was possibly the most annoying, eccentric, self-centered, oblivious, ignorant, diva-ish girl on earth and, in Volkner's words; she "isn't even blonde!"

Unfortunately for the two anti-social trainers, Candice's older sister was a good trainer. A VERY good trainer, as she had demonstrated when she beat her sister 3/1 in a battle

"So, Kaitlyn," Tyler says, trying not to pull out his hair in frustration, "how come you never became Snowpoint Gym Leader? You're obviously qualified for the job."

Kaitlyn blushes. "Aww, Ty, you're soooo sweet," – Tyler squeezes his hands into fists as he fights not to lose his cool.

"But I'd really never be good for a gym leader. I like to, like, move _around,_ you know? I'd never be able to sit in a room for so long." She replies in that bitchy voice that Tyler and Volkner have grown hate so much.

"So _anyways,_ I think that, like, I should come with you guys, cause, like, well I'm a good trainer all, but also cause, like, I wanna help people and stuff."

Volkner sighs. "Sorry, hun, Aaron already tried that charity BS, so don't even go there. Tell you what: we're gonna go outside and mull it over, we'll get back to you later."

Kaitlyn grins. "Alright, like, thanks guys!"

Volkner smiles politely and steps outside of the tavern. As soon as the door slams behind him, his face drops and he turns to Tyler. "No."

"Okay, Volkner, listen – "

But Volkner puts his head down and claps his hands over his ears. "No, no, no, no, no, no, NO. Nothing you can do or say can make me consent to letting her come."

"Volkner, we can't deny that she's strong. At the end of the day, that's what we came here for."

"Okay," Volkner sighs and puts his hands over his face. "Despite the fact that she's a total snob, let's look at all the reasons we'd let her come…."

"She's a strong trainer."

"Yeah, that's most important. Umm…" Volkner thinks hard for a good reason to let Kaitlyn join. "Well, she's a girl, Cynthia would like that."

"Yeah, I guess."

"She's got Ice-types, that's something we need."

"Yes."

"Uh….she likes to travel."

"Oh, yeah, good one."

Volkner sighs. "I'm still not convinced."

Suddenly, another voice startles him. "So I hear you're looking for tough trainers."

Tyler watches, unfazed, as the rocking chair on the other side of the porch spins around to reveal an old man, with a guitar and cowboy hat.

"Why didn't you tell me someone was watching us?" Volkner asks Tyler angrily. Tyler shrugs. "You didn't ask."

The man holds out his hand and says with a southern accent, "Name's Dallas. I'm Kaitlyn and Candice's Grandpa."

Volkner shakes the hand. "So, Mister Dallas, are you saying you can tell us where to find a great trainer?"

"Find one? Yer lookin' at him. Back in my day, I was the best trainer around. I might not still have the touch, but I got the Pokemon. Problem is, I'm getting a mite bit old for this sorta thing. I bet a bit o' warmth'd loosen up these old joints, though. So what'ya say?"

Volkner turns to Tyler and shrugs. "It's your call."

"…Why don't you both come?"

Volkner stares at him. "Are you kidding? You wanna bring Dallas AND the psycho chick? No offense…" He adds to Dallas.

Dallas laughs. "None taken, boy. So when do we leave?"

"Are you bringing anything else?"

Dallas swings his guitar around so that the neck is sticking out behind his back, and taps his Pokeball belt. "Nope."

"Then let's get going."

Kaitlyn is hanging around the Gym, at the front of town, when she spots the three heading toward her.

"Oh, goodie! Pap's coming! When do we leave?"

"Now," Tyler says flatly.

"Ok, let me go get my bags!"

"No bags," Volkner replies as he walks by, barely able to conceal his grin.

"Bu - ….but… WHAT?"

The group doesn't stop walking.

"Then…THEN I'M NOT COMING!" Kaitlyn screeches. "GRANDAD, DO SOMETHING!"

Dallas chuckles as they trudge on, leaving her fuming in the snow. Finally, she pulls herself together. "Wait…wait up! I didn't mean it!"

You are dreaming.

You are floating high up in the air, looking out over a region unfamiliar to you at first. Then with a closer look, you realize it's Hoehn, the region you had spent the most of your time in during your days on the run.

Someone else is floating next to you. A young man, maybe in his early thirties, but he has strange gray hair. He's wearing an expensive suit.

"Hello?" You call. "What's going on? Why are we here?"

The man gives no sign that he knows you are there.

The man seems familiar, but you can't remember his name.

"Hello? Answer me!"

Finally, the man turns to look at you, and you gasp as you suddenly recognize him.

Steven Stone, your namesake.

A flash, and the whole scene changes. You are still floating, still next to Steven, but everything is wrong. Steven's face constricts as it is riddled with pain. He suddenly cries out as scars and bruises cover his face. Blood trickles from somewhere on his head and out of the corner of his mouth.

You step forward, startled, to offer a hand, but Steven only raises a shaky hand to point toward Hoehn.

"...No..."

All of the landscape is burning, the vast seas storming. In the very center of the region, a huge crater opens up. You recognize the two monsters who emerge as Groudon and Kyogre, locked in their epic battle. Rayquaza is nowhere to be found.

"This is the fate destiny has in store for all of the Earth, should you fail."

You realize that it's Steven Stone's voice speaking, but he isn't moving his mouth.

"Wait, what do you mean? What am I supposed to do? I'm not even sure what I'm _doing_ with these people!"

Too late. Steven's stricken, pain-riddled ghostly figure is fading away.

"Steven? Steven, come back! I dont understand! Steven!"

A bone-chilling cold wipes over you, and a fissure opens in the ground. You begin falling, falling….

A hand shakes you awake.

"Stephen! Stephen! Stephen, wake up!"

You sit up, blinking your eyes wearily as you see Cynthia standing next to your bed. "'Morning, what time is it?" You moan.

"Two."

"PM?"

"AM."

"Then why the hell'd you wake me up?"

Cynthia smiles. "You know that gnarly-looking Team Galactic building at the end of town?"

As you and Cynthia quietly walk through the sliding doors of the building, then unlucky desk clerk who got stuck with the graveyard shift hardly looks up from his half-asleep daze.

"Welcome to Galactic HQ, Eterna branch, how can I help – "

He stops in mid-sentence when he recognizes Cynthia, but before he can say anything Roserade's Poison Sting nails him in the shoulder. His eyes roll into the back of is head, unconscious.

As you swiftly search him, you are afraid to ask whether Cynthia killed him or just knocked him out. Instead, you pull out his key card.

"We're in."

"Alright, Rojack. Send my full report of the attack to Cyrus immediately. Make sure he understands that although Rayquaza was not captured, both Rawson and Lance were taken care of. Pass my regards to The Jackal onto him, as well. The Flying, ah, _three_ merely suspect it was a stray bullet that finished the Champion off. Oh, and one more thing, Colonel?"

"Yes, Commander Saturn?"

"Don't mention that the lead ship was completely destroyed in the report. We are still working to salvage it and, well, what Cyrus doesn't know won't hurt him."

"Very good, sir. Will that be all?"

"Yes, Colonel. Expect me back home in oh-three-hundred hours. End of transmission."

Colonel Rojack of Team Galactic carefully slips the full report into a yellow manila folder and steps out of his office, yawning as he hopes to soon be back in bed.

*BAM!*

Ampibom flies out of nowhere and smashes into his face, sending Rojack staggering backwards. Before he can cry out, one of Ampibom's hand-tails stuffs itself into his mouth, and the door slides back closed behind it.

Finally, Rojack gets a hold of the Pokemon and throws it to the ground, pulling out his pistol.

"I don't know where you came from, you little nuisance, but I sure know where you going…"

Before he can fire, he realizes something huge is looming over him, and turns around just in time to see Typhlosion's huge, fiery claw swing into his neck, sending him flying backwards.

You and Cynthia quietly step over the body of yet another night guard as you slide the keycard into the pad by the door, stepping into Colonel Rojack's office. You smile as you see the half-dead body of the dictator of Eterna City, whom Gardenia had been trying to file a case against for years.

"Good work, you two. Typhlosion, Ampibom, return!"

As you call back your Pokemon, you turn to Cynthia, who is fiddling with the main computer. "You think anyone heard that?"

"Hard to say. These walls look soundproof, but Typhlosion's one hell of a loud guy. "Either way, let's get out of here fast."

"You find everything ya need on the computer?"

"Yeah. See this memory stick here? It's actually a little firewall-eating virus. After I pull everything I need, the server will crash, a Team Galactic'll be super pissed."

"Excellent. So what exactly do you need?"

Cynthia stops for a moment. "…Oh, you know, this and that, blueprints, messages, things that Tyler would need. I don't understand half of it myself."

You can tell immediately that she is lying, but decide now is not the time for interrogating. Besides, you trust Cynthia enough by now to let her make the decisions

"Ok, and…we're good. We have about two minutes to get out of here before the protection service detects anything wrong, but if we move quietly we'll be gone before anyone even knows we were here."

You and Cynthia slide out a window on the bottom floor of the building just as an alarm goes off. You have plenty of time to get out of here, but you decide to be safe. After spotting an electricity transformer out behind the building, you send out Jolteon.

"Hey, buddy. Let's start a power outage."

Pin-missling its way into the power bow, Jolteon cracks open several important-looking wires. It absorbs a bit of static from them, and the whole building beside you goes dark.

"Let's blow this popsicle stand."

THE END


	10. Chapter 10: Questions and Answers

**CHAPTER TEN**: QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Riley's speedboat finally pulls up to the huge rock known as Iron Island. It appears empty at first, but Riley assures Aaron and Frank that there are plenty of Pokemon both on top of and inside the huge cave.

"Well then let's stay out here!" Frank exclaims, eyeing a Krabby that scuttles under a rock a few feet away. "I don't like caves."

Riley shakes his head. "Lucario and I are going inside, where the Pokemon are strongest."

Aaron shrugs and follows Riley and Lucario. Frank grins. "Suit yerself, man. It's warmer out here, though."

Aaron shakes his head and steps into the inky blackness of the cave. He is immediately consumed by darkness. An eerie roar can be heard way off in the distance. "Riley?" Aaron asks nervously. "Where are you?"

"Right here," comes the reply. Before Aaron can say anything else, a bright blue ball of aura appears in Lucario's paw, lighting up the area for about twenty meters around. With a nod from Riley, Aaron steps blindly into the infinite blackness.

You and Cynthia are finally far enough away from Eterna City that you can stop and rest.

"So, I almost forgot," you say. "How'd it go with Gardenia?"

"Better than I'd expected." Cynthia replies. "Turns out she managed to steal a prototype of one of Team Galactic's new Untraceable cell phones, and used it to call around. Tyler and Volkner are on their way to Veilstone right now, and Leader Maylene is preparing a convoy to pull us out of Veilstone and over to Hoehn ASAP."

"What about the others?"

"We haven't heard from them yet. Hopefully they've gotten out of Iron Island safely and are on they're way to take down Darkrai."

You nod, knowing that you'll have to confront Cynthia and Tyler about the mission sooner or later. You decide to wait until you're near Hoehn.

"So what do you think's going on at Iron Island that's keeping Aaron and Frank from answering us?"

"Oh, nothing, they're probably fine," Cynthia reassures you.

Naturally, she can't have been more wrong.

Aaron screams as another volley of bullets blasts just inches from his ear. Team Galactic ambushed him and Riley just as they had been fighting a wild Steelix. Now bullets and Pokemon attacks are coming from every which way, and he and Riley's only consolation is that the grunts are just as blind as they are.

As Drapion blasts poison in random directions and Heracross does its best to shield Aaron, he realizes that the light from Lucario's Aura is no longer illuminating the cave.

"Riley, where the hell did you go?" Aaron yells as a bullet slices through the side of his shirt. Another shell hits Drapion in the side, and Aaron has to call back the poor creature.

Suddenly, something grabs Aaron from the back and pulls him down, and before he knows what is going on, he is sliding down a short, spiraling tunnel, Heracross rolling after him.

After sliding about thirty meters down a pitch-black catacomb, Aaron lands on the ground, coughing. The first thing he realizes is that, he can barley see. He landed in a different part of the cave, and there was light peeking up from the huge hole in the corner of the ceiling.

Aaron rolls over, wiping dirt off his face, and looks up to see Riley holding out his hand. Aaron gladly takes it, pulling himself up. He calls back Heracross, and turns to Riley. "What happened?"

"We were running from Galactic when Lucario found this tunnel I used to use as a shortcut to get out of here. He was the one who pulled you down, sorry if you got roughed up a bit."

"No problem, I'm just glad I didn't get shot. So how do we get outta here?"

Riley points up, towards the small hole in the ceiling. It has to be fifty meters in the air.

"Are you serious?"

"Yes. I'm guessing none of your Pokemon can carry us that far; we're gonna have to climb."

Aaron is about to protest, but he can hear footsteps approaching the cavern.

"Fine, let's go."

The Jackal slowly creeps through the cave, tracking Aaron and Riley. The grunts don't know he is there, or that he is on their side, but it doesn't matter. They'd never find him anyway.

His instructions are simple: kill. Both of the men working for Cynthia need to be dead. No questions asked.

He quietly takes out a Pokeball and walks into the cavern…

Pain courses through Aaron's arms as he pulls himself up the side of the wall, dismayed to see that he is barely half-way to the top. Riley is far ahead, and Lucario is a few feet above, probably only staying with Aaron to make sure he doesn't fall off.

"Riley, are you almost there?" Aaron calls up the side off the wall. He is answered by a small shower of dust and dirt, and a long pause.

Then: "Yeah, I just pulled myself over the top! It's closer than it looks!"

With a hint of newfound strength, Aaron manages to pull himself a bit further. Then, he hears men in the next cavern.

"Damn," he mutters, and begins to climb faster.

The Jackal smiles as he looks at Aaron through his sniper scope. He can visibly see the young man's strange green hair, and slowly places the crosshairs over Aaron's head. The Jackal places his finger on the trigger and applies just the tiniest bit of pressure…

*BANG!*

The Jackal gasps. The shot fired, but never hit its intended target. About ten meters below the top of the rock wall, Aaron's haste causes him to slip, and the rock his right hand is holding onto breaks off the wall. At the same moment his body drops, the bullet passes his head and tears into his left hand instead, which lets go as well.

The Jackal curses violently. He has never missed a target at this range in his life. It doesn't matter, though; he no longer has the element of surprise, but now one target is falling to his death, and the other lay tired and helpless on the top of a giant underground cliff.

The Jackal swallows his pride and loads his gun again.

Aaron screams for two reasons: One, he had just had a shot fired at is head. Instead, it had torn into his hand. Two: He is falling off a monstrously high cliff into a black oblivion. His breath catches in his chest as Lucario's paw grabs his foot just before he falls to the of no return. With one mighty swing of its arm, Lucario tosses Aaron up. He lands painfully, but alive.

Riley grabs him, pulls him to his feet, and shouts a single command: "Run!"

Aaron doesn't need to be told twice. Lucario swings himself over the top of the wall and follows. The three sprint toward the large hole in the side of the cavern ceiling, now only about twenty meters over their heads. Riley pulls out a rope with a grappling hook tied to the end and tosses it up. "Go, go, GO!"

The Jackal curses again as a grenade lands near him, throwing off his aim and causing his second shot to go wild. The damn Galactic Agents had finally found him, and were proving to be more of a threat than he had thought. Deciding he wouldn't be able to get a perfect shot with his gun, The Jackal pulls out two Pokeballs and Smoke Bomb, disappearing from sight while unleashing two deadly Pokemon.

Lucario is the first to jump onto the rope. It climbs up with blinding speed, until a green blur slams into it and knocks it back to the ground. Lucario looks up angrily at Grovyle and launches a powerful Aura Sphere. Grovyle dodges and retaliates with a flying fury of punches and kicks, all of which Lucario barely blocks.

_"I can see I am not the only one here skilled with martial arts." _ Lucario says telepathically. _"But this is a fight you cannot win."_

"Gro, Grovyle!" The assassin Pokemon replies. Translation: "We shall see."

As Aaron desperately tries to grab onto the rope with one hand, while blood gushes out of the other, a huge figure flies out of the shadows and shrieks a blood-curdling roar.

"Oh, God." Aaron whispers. The man after them had sent out an Aerodactyl.

Riley curses from halfway up the rope as he sees Aerodactyl, and takes out a Pokeball.

"Let's go, Gyarados!" He'd have to put his newest Pokemon to the test in a fight to the death.

The Jackal watches from his new hiding spot as Aerodactyl smashes the Gyarados out of the air and punishes it with a Thunderbolt. Riley's Pokemon wouldn't last long.

The killer's new hiding spot is much farther than his original setup, and he doubt he'll be able to get a direct his on Riley this time. It doesn't matter though. None of his enemies are in any place to be even mildly wounded.

The Jackal pulls the trigger a third time and watches emotionlessly as the bullet slams into Riley's chest and knocks the powerful trainer to the ground. Packing up his weapon, The Jackal gets ready to move. His work here is done.

Smacking Grovyle to the ground, Lucario cries out in anger as it sees its beloved master go down. It runs over to help Riley, but Grovyle flies forward and wraps its hands around Lucario's neck. The Pokemon's last words before it blacks out are, "Master, _I've failed you... master…"_

Aaron looks down desperately as he sees the chaos going down below him. Riley is either dead or dying, Lucario is knocked out, Aerodactyl is beating Gyarados, and bullets are flying from all over. Aaron doesn't want to leave his friends behind, but he is wounded and can't do anything more. He gasps as the hook begins to slip from the crack it has made in the roof, and for the second time he begins to fall to his death.

But he doesn't fall far.

A hand darts down from the hole like a fist from heaven, and Aaron is hoisted up into blinding sunlight. When his vision returns to normal, who should he see but Frank bending over him. "God, I can't leave you guys alone in a cave for five minutes without having to save your asses!"

Panting and covered in a mixture of dirt and sweat, Aaron can't help but smile. "Frank, you crazy bastard…"  
"Don't worry, man. We're getting you out of here."

"We?"

The question goes unanswered. Suddenly very dizzy, Aaron faints just Frank dives into the fray.

The Jackal calls back Grovyle, and is pulling out Aerodactyl's Pokeball when something huge slams onto the cavern floor. Before he can quite tell what's going on, the assassin is knocked backwards by what seems to be a giant metal ball. He looks up to see a gigantic Kingler beating Aerodactyl into the ground.

"F***," he mutters, and calls back his Pokemon. His mission is still a partial success, and that's fine with him. He'll kill Aaron another day. Before Kingler can get a hold of him, The Jackal disappears into the blackness.

Aaron awakens to the sound of a loud motor, and looks around to see him back in Riley's ship. Frank is at the wheel, while Riley's Blissey is tending to its heavily bandaged master.

"Wha-what happened?" Aaron asks.

Frank laughs. "Me and my kickass Pokemon saved you again. I'll tell you all about it later, but right now you need to get some rest."

Aaron doesn't need to be told twice. He leans his head back and falls back into a lazy sleep.

Frank tilts his head back as he feels the wind against his face. For the first time in his life, he isn't quite sure where to go. He didn't speak Blissey, but he didn't need to be told that Riley was in bad condition. He wasn't sure whether the man's health would get better or worse over the trip. Canavale was farther away than New Moon island, but if Riley was critical then he'd need a hospital.

On the other hand, other lives could be at stake if they didn't catch Darkrai soon, and Riley could turn out fine. Another option was Full Moon island, where Frank had heard Cresselia lived. It was even farther away than Darkrai's home and not part of the plan, but it was a safe place to rest and Cresselia's help would be useful.

Yes, Cresselia would help. She was the main reason that they were out here, in the first place. Confident in his new decision, Frank turns the wheel and sets a course for Full Moon Island.

Colonel Rojack is thrown against the burning wall by an amazing telekinetic force, and Alex Rawson begins to choke him to death with his mind.

"I'm going to ask you one last time, Rojack. Where. Did. They. GO?"

Struggling to breathe, Rojack chokes, "I d-…don 't….know!"

Rawson sighs. "Very well."

Rojack screams in pain his internal organs begin to churn. "Wait, wait, wait! I'll tell you! I'll do anything! PLEASE!"

Rawson finally lets him go.

Breathing heavily, Rojack murmurs, "They… they came in, in the middle of… the night…Knocked me out…almost killed me…I woke up, and they'd pulled a ton of files from the mainframe. One of our men caught a glimpse of what they were looking at before… they self-destructed the server…"

"And what did he see?"

Rojack takes a deep breath. "They took a lot, but what we saw was that Giovanni was hiding in Veilstone. He was getting ready for…something."

Alex smiles. "Interesting… and who did you say broke in again?"

"I didn't see them, but one of our security cameras barely did before they cut our power. The first one, I don't know, just an accomplice, but the second intruder was definitely... Champion Cynthia…"

Rawson nods. "You've been helpful, Rojack. As your reward, your death will be swift."

Before Rojack can move, Rawson snaps his neck with a twitch of his finger. He then tosses the body into the burning wreckage of what had been the Eterna Galactic Building, until he had found it.

He had a new destination.

"Are we there yet? My feet hurt…" Kaitlyn whines as she staggers down the steep path. Ignoring her, Volkner stops and looks around. "This looks like a safe spot." He nods to Tyler."

"A safe spot 'fer what?" Dallas asks. In response, Mewtwo appears with a brilliant flash of light.

Surprisingly unsurprised, Dallas smiles and his eyes widen. "While I'll be dod derned… I've seen some rare Pokemon in my day, but this…"

Kaitlyn is a bit less enthusiastic. She gasps and covers her mouth. "Oh, OH MY GOD! That's disgusting! Tyler, what _is _that thing?"

Volkner explodes into laughter, along with Dallas.

"_Be careful what you say, and whom you say it to, little human." _Mewtwo says telepathically. "_You never know when they might…snap."_

With that last sentence, he cracks huge tree in two, sets it on fire, and sends it flying away, all without even looking at it. Kaitlyn becomes a bit more respectful after that, but she doesn't talk to Tyler for the rest of the trip.

They trudge down the path for a few more minutes, Mewtwo content to be floating around on its own, when Tyler's counterpart suddenly speaks into Volkner's mind again. "_Young one, should we summon the Son of Lightning?"_

It takes a second for Volkner to realize what it's means (legendaries have a weird way of talking.) After a nod from Tyler, the only other one who heard what Mewtwo said, Volkner calls out to Raikou with his mind.

"_Uhh…yeah, I guess I can talk to you like this now…yeah, Mewtwo wants you here… I hope you can hear me… Yeah."_

Despite Volkner's lack of confidence, Raikou bursts onto the path in front of them within ten seconds, roaring.

Kaitlyn screams and turns to run, but Mewtwo catches her, and calms her down. Well, he knocks her out.

Dallas is a different story. He stares at the magnificent beast, more surprised than when he met Mewtwo. Raikou looks at him with equal recognition.

"…You."

"_You."_

Volkner look at one, then the other. "Wait, you two know each other?"

Neither responds, not taking their eyes off each other.

Mewtwo and Tyler respond for them. "_Dallas… he was a Suicune hunter as a child."_

"…And he ran into Raikou one day, instead."

"_They battled,"_

"And Raikou lost."

"_But Dallas let him go,"_

"Because he was after Suicune."

Dallas doesn't take his eyes off of Raikou for a long time. After what seems like hours, he finally takes a deep breath and says, "Well, all righty then. Let's get movin'."

Starting to get a headache, Volkner looks at Tyler and Mewtwo angrily. "And why didn't you tell me this sooner?"

They respond at the same time. "You didn't ask."

Volkner turns away, grumbling. "Damn psychics…"

Aaron quickly brushes his sopping wet hair out of his eyes as he squints, trying to see through the storm that seemed to appear and strike Riley's motorboat out of nowhere.

It was bad enough to get seasick under the best circumstances, but to be trapped in a monsoon in the middle of night with zero visibility? Aaron was glad he hadn't eaten anything recently.

"Frank!" he shouts, his voice being drowned out by the crashing waves and the flashing lightning around them.

"FRANK!"

"Yeah?" The other man calls back, desperately trying to steer the boat without being flipped overboard. His hands are both gripping the wheel in a death-lock, and all of his attention is concentrated on keeping them afloat.

"I think I can see it!"

"Where?"

Aaron stumbles to the floor as the boat rocks again. The storm is picking up, and if they don't get to the island soon, he has a feeling hat they won't make it trough the night.

Getting on his hands and knees, he scrambles around the dashboard, desperately looking for a headlight switch of some kind. He finds it, a small switch under the steering wheel, and flicks it on.

Light suddenly shoots from the front of the boat, illuminating the ocean in front of them and settling on a small mass of land, looming in the darkness about tree-hundred meters ahead.

"I see it!" Fran exclaims, fighting for control as more water pours down and nearly shakes him off the wheel. "Can we make it?"

"We have to try!" Aaron replies. Then he turns his attention to Lucario, who is doing his best to hold down an unconscious Riley.

"Can he hold out?" Aaron calls over the raging storm.

"_I cannot say._" The Pokemon says gravely, examining its master's bullet wound. _"I estimate he has only a few hours left to live, and that's only if we land safely."_

Aaron repeats the message to Frank, who nods, grimacing. "We've gotta make it to land, before this storm wipes us out... I'm goin' for it." He grabs the throttle and thusts it forward, gunning it for the island and causing Aaron to nearly be thrown off.

"Are you crazy?" Aaron screams as the boat hits a monster swell and is sent flying into the air, barley sticking the landing in one piece. "Even if we survive, there could be rocks on the shore! You're gonna tear the boat apart!"

Frank can't help but smile as the last few meters of open water disappear in a flash, and the speeding motorboat closes in on the jagged, rocky beach of Full Moon Island. "It doesn't matter."

Too late to argue any further. Aaron grabs a hold of the side of the boat and braces himself for what very easily be his death.

"Sir, the flying four are back."

Steven Stone looks up from his feverish work to see Sidney standing in his doorway. At any other time, Steven would be excited, but he has too much on his mind.

"Sir?"

Steven shakes his head, trying to focus. Maybe the Flying Four had good news to bring. But he doubted it.

"Steven, are you alright?" Sidney asks, concerned. The Dark-type trainer is one of the Champion's oldest friends, and recognizes immediately that something is troubling Steven.

But Stone isn't ready to share the news about Deoxys with the rest of the world. Perhaps they already knew. "I'm fine, Sidney, thanks. How did Drake's mission go?"

"Um, well…–"

Before Sidney can answer, footsteps are heard coming up the stairs, and a devastated-looking Drake enters the room, following by Winona, whose eyes are red from sobbing.

"Oh no."

Steven is shocked by the news of Lance's death. How ever much he disliked his rival Champion growing up with him, Steven had never hated the older man.

But Lance had lived a good life, being an Elite in one region and a Champion in the other, the Dragon Tamer had lived to be a good age.

There were more important matters at hand than grieving over lost friends; there would be time for that later.

"Drake, I know this is hard for you, but I need to know how the attack went. Was the plan a success?"

Drake looks up, anger and pain clearly showing in his one good eye. "Oh yes, the plan went fine. Wilma captured your damned beast."

Steven is taken aback by his sharp tone. Drake was supposed to be the calm one.

He turns back to Sidney, who is still quietly awaiting orders. "Sid, I want you to take Winona here down to the guest area. Give her some tea, coffee, whatever, and make her feel at home. Once she's feeling a bit better, debrief her on everything that's happened.

Sidney looks annoyed at first about acting like a nursemaid, but of course he follows orders. Steven knows that the young man's always had a soft spot for the cryptic gym leader.

_"_Yes, sir. What about Drake?"

"We have private matters to discuss. You're dismissed."

Nodding, Sidney puts his arm around the girl and escorts her down the hall. Once they are gone, Steven folds his hands calmly and turns back to Drake. "That's great news. Now that we have Rayquaza, we can finally begin the campaign to bring peace back to this ravaged country.

Drake turns away in anger. "And you don't even care about the price we'll have to pay. The price we've _already_ payed."

"Drake, you know that's not true. But I will do whatever it takes to keep my people safe." Steven leans closer. "But I need to know what happened on that mission. I need to know _how _your son died."

"He was shot."

"By whom?"

"A…–" Drake struggles to remember. "An assassin. A foreign man. Yes, I remember now. He didn't look like he would be from Sinnoh, and he definitely wasn't a part of Galactic. Probably a mercenary."

"Can you give me a visual description?"

Drake sighed. "I didn't see the man very clearly, it didn't even look like the Galactics knew who he was. Why the hell does it make a difference, though?"

"I thought you would want to avenge your son."

"Yes, but it's not like you to track down a single man when you have entire terrorist organizations to worry about."

Steven nods and taps away on his computer a bit. Then he spins the screen to face Drake.

"Is this the guy?"

Drake squints at the picture Steven's brought up. "It's hard to tell. I think so. Who is he?"

"Nobody knows his real name. They call him The Jackal. You ever heard of Koga Chén?

"Of course, that corrupt Leader from Kanto a few years back."

"We think that The Jackal is working for him. This is the only known picture in existence of him."

Drake straightens up. "Tell me where to find him. I'll kill him."

Steven shakes his head. Drake is old enough to be his grandfather; he can't have him running off on a mission like this.

"I'm sorry, Drake, but I have another man better suited for the job."

As if on cue, a third man walks through the door. The person standing before them is a tall, tan man who can't be older than twenty-five. He is muscular, intense, and has deep, hard eyes with pupils black as night. His short black hair is highlighted with streaks of scarlet.

"Drake, meet Marcus, my special field agent. When we need somebody found, or someone protected, we talk to him."

"So he does your dirty work for you?"

"In a sense, yes. He's going to be the one to track down the Jackal–"

"–And kill him."

"Not at all. Well, at least, not right away. If Marcus here can trace this man back to Koga, it will give us other leads. Then we can get deep inside Cyrus' operation, and destroy the whole thing from the inside out."

"I thought we were after Archie and Maxie?"

"Yes, but I never underestimate foreign enemies over domestic ones. Which is why I'm sending you to Sinnoh."

Drake raised his eyebrows. "Seems like I'm heading in the wrong direction."

Steven shook his head. "Cynthia–she's assembling a team of the strongest trainers she can find. They're mopping up all of the terrorists, and they're getting ready for something big–something she's not talking about. After they're done in Sinnoh, they're coming here, and I want you to meet them before they leave. The team's gathering in Veilstone in a week, and I have a feeling Team Rocket's going to be ready for them. You really want to avenge your son? Go there and help Cynthia and her friends make a difference."

Drake sighed. After what seemed like hours of thought, he finally spoke. "Alright, I'll do it. For Lance."

Steven nodded contently. "Now there's one more thing we need to talk about, the most important thing of all."

"And what's that?"

"...Deoxys"

THE END


	11. Chapter 11: Rendezvous

**CHAPTER 11: **RENDEZVOUS

"Are we there yet? My feet hurt...and I'm hungry!"

"Kaitlyn, if you don't shut up, I swear to god I'll–"

"Volkner, calm down."

Tyler's small, peculiar group of himself, Mewtwo, Dallas, Kaitlyn, Volkner, and Raikou trekked down the winding switchbacks that led out of the Snowpoint Mountains. The sun was peeking out from behind the previously overcast weather, and the group was finally leaving behind the final traces of snow in the autumn-colored forest, forcing Kaitlyn to reluctantly shed her expensive winter clothing. And although the temperature was finally climbing higher, the young diva couldn't seem to run out of things to complain about.

"Tyler can you really say that she isn't the–"

"I said _quiet_, Volkner!"

"What the hell? You can't just–"

"_Shut up!"_

Volkner shut his mouth, realizing that Tyler wasn't mad at him; He was staring at something in the sky, trying to concentrate. Volkner's gaze followed that of Tyler and Mewtwo's to see a tiny speck above them in the sky.

"What, that? Calm down! It's probably just a satellite, or a Drifblim." Volkner exclaimed.

Tyler shook his head, not taking his eyes off the tiny dot in the sky.

Dallas had spotted it, to. "Look 'thar yonder, look's like it's gettin' bigger."

Tyler nodded gravely. Yes, it was getting bigger, and fast. Mewtwo's catlike tail twitched.

And suddenly, before anyone could do anything more, the falling object was upon them. Kaitlyn screamed, and Volkner cringed, as the world around them was obliterated. It was sure as hell no Drifblim that had hit them.

Volkner opens his eyes, staring at his hands and amazed to be alive. Then he sees Mewtwo stagger to the ground beside him, and realizes that it must have thrown up a shield around the others just before the object hit them. But what _had_ hit them? Whatever it was, it had blasted a possible mile-radius crater in the ground around them. Volkner felt dizzy as he imagined how difficult it must have been for Mewtwo to protect them all.

As he staggered to his feet, he looked around to see the others knocked to the ground and winded as well.

"What the hell _was _that?"

Dallas, being the oldest in the group by far, struggled to get to his feet. Coughing violently from all of the smoke and debris, he croaked, "It was some kind'er…_meteor..._eh, but them metee'ers, they don' do that too often, now, do they?"

"_That was no meteor," _Raikou said grimly.

As if on cue, a silhouette slowly rose from the wreckage around them. Raikou's eyes narrowed as it growled, and Tyler tensed.

"You."

Alex Rawson cackled as a ball of energy formed in the palm of his hand, and he prepared to finish off the humans and Pokemon before him.

Riley choked on an invisible substance as he slowly came to. Coughing up blood, he looked around him. He felt like he was floating. Surrounded by a blurry, blinding light, what sounded like a crowd of noisy people people resounded in his pounding ear drum.

"_What is this?"_

The last thing he remembered, he had been fighting in the cave, when something slammed into his chest. He hadn't felt pain, but suddenly he was falling, falling, falling…

Riley tried to look around, and found that searing agony tore through him when he moved. He couldn't feel his toes, or any of his body besides his head, for that matter.

Next to him lay Lucario, unmoving, most likely dead. Not far off was Frank's figure, also deathly still. They appeared to be floating as well, but it seemed that they were standing upright.

Wait, what? Were they laying down and standing up at the same time? Riley suddenly felt very dizzy. He, too, felt as if he was up against the ground, yet he was standing straight up. Was he leaning against a wall of some sort?

Riley turned his head as much as he could, and was met with a blinding light. There was no sign of Aaron.

Suddenly, it dawned on him where he must be.

"_Am I dead?"_

_"No."_

Riley was startled by the sudden other voice in his head. Was it Lucario? No, it couldn't be; Lucario was unconscious, and besides, this voice was female.

_"At least, not yet."_

_"Who are you?"_

_"Look for yourself."_

_"I can't–"_

He was cut off by a sudden feeling of warmth that flushed over him. Weakly, he was able to raise his head just enough for is senses to return to him. The reason he felt like he was floating was because he was laying in some of the softest sand he had ever felt in his life. The blinding light was the sun, and it's reflection off of the pearly white beach. The noise that had sounded like a cheering crowd was the crashing of waves, and the reason they all seemed to be asleep while standing upright was because the three of them were laying on the ground, and in Riley's semi-conscious state he'd lost all perception of gravity.

Then, he turned to look at his rescuer. Floating above him was a beautiful, magnificent Pokemon. Its body was colored in staggeringly bright pinks, yellows, blue, and all the colors of the rainbow seemingly rolled into one. It had deep, golden eyes, and its entire body was made up of moon-shaped that reminded him of giant bananas.

"Finally." Riley breathed

"Alright, this looks like a good spot to take a break," Cynthia finally breathed, much to Stephen's relief. The two of them practically stumbled to the ground reaching the top of yet another hill, where they had a clear view of the land surrounding them. They were currently hiking in the Northeastern part of the mainland, only a few miles north of Solaceon Town, that little village Stephen had grown to love so much over the past few years.

The area they were now surveying was a small, hilly grassland poking out of the woods. Being at a rather high altitude, Stephen felt like he could see everything around him. The Snowpoint mountain range, looming off in the north; the thundering rainclouds off to the east, which constantly hovered over the long trail to Veilstone City; and it even felt like he could make out the northern ocean that led into Pearl Harbor, of Battle Island.

A pang of nostalgia struck at Stephen's heart. He knew this land well; he had often trained up here with his Pokemon while he worked for May and Bernard. This was the place where he had become the trainer he was today.

"So what now, Cynthia?" He asked as they both tiredly pulled off their backpacks and found a nice spot to take a break.

As Cynthia lowered herself onto a withered old tree stump, she took out a wrinkled old map of Sinnoh. "Well, we're right... _here_, just a bit north of where Wilma lives. The plan is for Tyler and Volkner to come back down and meet us in Celestic town where we meet up with them, and whoever they managed to find in Snowpoint. Normally I'd say we should keep moving, because they should be there by now, but they were supposed to send a message of some kind if they got close and hadn't found us."

"And you're not worried that something might have happened to them?"

Cynthia chuckled. "Something bad, happen to Tyler? I'd trust him to take care of himself. Now that he's got Mewtwo, Volkner, Raikou, and whoever they picked up in Snowpoint, I'd bet it would take the entire Kanto Army to slow them down.

Stephen nodded. "Good point. So what do we do now?"

Cynthia stretched and yawned. "Well, I suppose we wait here. I'd say we should take a break until nightfall, unless we get some kind of signal from Tyler before then. Let's set up camp, I don't think we have to worry about anyone running into us way out here.

Stephen grinned. "So can I get my pokemon out? Some of them have been in their 'balls for days, now."

Cynthia thought about it. "Yeah, I think that's a great idea! I guess mine need a bit of fresh air as well."

Stephen snapped open his backpack and unclipped all of his Pokeballs from his belt. He ran his fingers over them a few times, just to make sure that they were all there.

Then, "Aight, everyone, come on out!"

Chucking the handful of 'balls in the air, he watched as they clicked open in mid-air, and his Pokemon appeared in brilliant white flashes. All fourteen of them.

Yes, they were all there: Kirlia, Chimecho, Golem, Typhlosion, Noctowl, Heracross, Ampibom, and the entire Eevee family

Cynthia raised her eyebrows and smiled, amused. "That's quite a team you've got there, Stephen. I can see why Volkner noticed you.

Despite how tired he was from having walked all day, Stephen was suddenly very awake.

Every time someone mentioned anything having to do with him join Cynthia's little group, or deciding to follow Volkner that night in the forest, it made him remember that this wasn't a vacation, and that these weren't his friends. Sure, people like Aaron, Frank, and Cynthia were nice enough to him, but all of them were a part of this secret mission that he had embarked on almost a month ago, and still knew almost nothing about. The only information he really had was that this strange man named Tyler, with the two differently colored eyes and the Pokemon embedded in his soul, needed him for something, something that had to do with Gary Oak, Giovanni, and his Odd Keystone, his "Soulstone."

That reminded Stephen of another thing he needed to ask Tyler as soon as he got the chance: Cynthia already had a Spiritomb, so why did they need Stephen's Soulstone? And what did they need a Spiritomb for, in the first place? Tyler had mentioned something about it being able to stop Mewtwo, but Mewtwo was on _their _side, wasn't it?

It was all very confusing. Stephen decided to forget about it for now; he wouldn't get any more answers out of Cynthia, at least not until they left for Hoehn. But for now, he may as well relax; it had been a long day.

He reached down to his backpack and started pulling out Pokeballs.

Cynthia gave him a puzzled look. "What are you doing? We're on a break."

Stephen grinned. "We haven't been battling much at all recently. Don't you think it's a good time to let our guys out to stretch for a minute?"

She looked confused for just the slightest moment. Then, she snapped back into a bright smile. "Yeah, that's a great idea! Why didn't I think of it before?"

Cynthia's hesitation bothered Stephen. It occurred to him that she probably didn't get much free time like this at all; Not only was she the Champion, but she had to govern an entire region, keep it safe from two huge terrorist organizations, and deal with people like Tyler and Aaron–who were both, despite their strong distrust for each other, about as unpredictable as a Spinda's dots (nice one, I know). All while taking care of this seemingly aimless mission, which she would talk about with nobody but Tyler.

But Stephen could practically see all of Cynthia's worries slipping away as she summoned six of the greatest Pokemon in all of Sinnoh. Over twenty flashes of light practically blinded the two of them, and suddenly there was a gathering of all kinds of Pokemon around them. Ampibom jumped off of Stephen's back and joined Heracross and Kirlia, who appeared to its two favorites out of Stephen's party.

Some of the Pokemon stretched and yawned (the yawns of Golem and Garchomp shook the ground). Others wrestled, anxious to let loose some energy after being trapped in their 'balls for so long (once again, Heracross and Lucario caused some commotion). Still others, notably the entire Eevee family, simply mingled, curiously meeting the exotic strangers among them. Spiritomb was the main target of this investigation, as none of Stephen's Pokemon had ever seen anything like it; even some of Cynthia's team rarely got a chance to meet the Ghost of a Thousand Souls.

Soon enough, the strange gathering of creatures spread out, getting bored of the newcomers and breaking off into smaller groups. Stephen was perfectly content to lay down, doze off, and watch the Pokemon play amongst themselves. As usual, his prided Eevee family stuck together, having little contests, as usual, to see things like who had the longest special attack, or who could run the fastest. Of course, Jolteon was usually the clear winner.

After maybe an hour of this, Stephen looked back over to Cynthia. She was still laying against the tree stump with her incredibly long hair to the side, reading a book. Getting up, Stephen cracked his neck and walked over to her.

"Watcha readin' there?" He asked, craning his neck to see the title. He couldn't make it out; it was written in Unown letters.

Cynthia snapped the book shut and blushed. "Oh, just something Lucian gave me to read. I haven't gotten the chance to get into it yet, not since… well, since Tyler came back…"

He smiled and nodded. It was widely known that Lucian, the strongest of the Sinnoh E4, was both an avid reader ad writer, being almost as strong of a Psychic as Tyler himself.

Then, Stephen reached down and picked up Cynthia's Pokeball belt, tossing it to her.

She sat up, puzzled. "What's this for?"

Stephen grinned and tilted his head toward a large, grassy clearing, some hundred meters away. "You and me, best three-outta-five. C'mon, Rapunzel, I promise I won't steal your throne when I beat you."

Cynthia snorted and jumped up, deliberately smacking him in the face with her blond mane of hair. "Yeah, we'll see about that. You're on!"

In less than five minutes, the battle has begun. Just as you predicted, Cynthia's first Pokemon out on the grassy battlefield is Spiritomb. You take a minute to stare at it in awe; one of the rarest Pokemon in Sinnoh. No, in the whole world. Only three known to exist, and he had the key to one of them. The other was floating, just thirty yards away from him, ready for battle.

You grin. "Go, Umbreon!"

Cynthia raises her eyebrows. "Oh so that's how it's gonna be? Spiritomb, use Shadow Sneak!"

"Umbreon, Sucker Punch!"

Spiritomb moves foward to attack, but Umbreon intercepts it with a sudden, powerful punch with its glowing fist-paw-thing. Spiritomb Stumbles backwards, but doesn't seem to fazed. It finishes its attack, its Shadow seeming to stretch out and leap at Umbreon. It tries to evade it, but there is nowhere to hide; the ground below it is covered in shadows, black as night. Before Umbreon can move, Spiritomb appears, seemingly out of nowhere, and smashes into Umbreon, sending it flying.

"Now, Spiritomb, follow up with Hidden Power!"

"Umbreon, Double Team!"

Beams of energy spray from Spiritomb, ripping apart the ground where Umbreon had just been, and destroying several of its makeshift clones. Finally, an attack lands. All of the Umbreon hallucinations vanish, and the real one is sent flying back.

"Spiritomb's Hidden Power must be fighting- or bug-type, for it to do that much damage…" Stephen says to himself. He looks at his Pokemon, who is weakened on the ground.

"Spiritomb, use Will O' Wisp!" Cynthia calls out, beginning to sense victory.

Before Umbreon can get back to its feet, it is covered in magical cinders, singing its already-black fur. Stephen grimaces. "Umbreon, Moonlight, quickly!"

The sky around them quickly darkens, and an artificial moon appears in the sky, shedding glowing light onto Umbreon. Slowly, it regains energy, and springs back onto its feet, ready to fight.

But Cynthia only laughs and shakes her head. "Bad idea, Stephen. Spiritomb, use Pain Split now!"

Spiritomb cackles and Umbreon yelps as an invisible force divides their health, sucking away at Umbreon's energy. Cynthia looks into Stephen's eyes and can tell he knows that it's almost over.

"Umbreon, Double-Team to the Baton Pass!" He calls out desperately. As more clones appear and defend Umbreon, it begins to glow and shrink back into its Pokeball.

To Stephen's surprise, Cynthia only laughs again. "Checkmate."

"Wh–what?"

"Spiritomb, Pursuit."

"Aw, dammit."

Tyler dives out of the way just in time for Rawson's attack to miss.

The Deoxys half of him cackles. "_Foolish human. You dare try to evade me? Ha, very well."_

It turns toward Kaitlyn, who is on the ground, paralyzed with fear. The gem on Deoxys/Rawson's chest begins to glow with power, and the two of them speak together. "**Goodbye, little girl…"**

A Shadow Ball appears in front of Deoxys, growing bigger and bigger. Kaitlyn screams bloody murder as the massive attack hurtles towards her…

And stops.

Kaitlyn opens her eyes to see the black ball of energy floating, just inches from her face. "Wha–…?"

And then Mewtwo rises from the smoke, its mutant hand outstretched towards the Shadow Ball. The others can only look in awe as the Psychic Pokemon who just practically gave his life to block a gigantic meteor deflects the immense attack with incredible force.

It's Rawson's turn to be surprised. "How the hell…"

The human/Pokemon crossbreed is thrown to the ground, stunned by Mewtwo's suden retaliation.

"Mewtwo… you saved us!" Volkner exclaims.

The catlike Pokemon doesn't move, floating up in the sky, breathing heavily and wincing from its many wounds, trying to concentrate on the spot where Deoxys fell.

"..._Not yet."_

Slowly, Deoxys lifts its head, and then its body. Someone gasps as the huge gash in Deoxys' side begins to heal itself at and alarming rate. It begins to levitate again, this time facing Mewtwo and looking angrier than ever.

"_Tyler," _Mewtwo speaks the words into his mind._ "Run."_

"Not a chance." Tyler replies, glaring at Deoxys defiantly. His discolored eyes twinkle, there is a flash, and suddenly, Mewtwo is gone, and it is Tyler that is levitating in the air, his black cloak billowing in the wind.

"..._Very well."_

"Volkner!" He calls out as Deoxys approaches slowly. "Take Dallas and Kaitlyn, and get them away from here!"

"But I can stay and fight! I CAN HELP YOU!"

Tyler rolls his eyes angrily. "That wasn't a damn suggestion! Now GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!"

Growling in anger, Volkner grabs Kaitlyn's hand and helps Dallas to his feet. "C'mon, let's go!"

As they sprint away, Tyler and Rawson lock themselves into a telekinetic battle of epic proportions.

"Wait, what about Raikou?" Volkner exclaims.

A voice speaks into his head. "_Don't worry about me, just keep moving! Don't look back!I'll hold them off for as long as I can!"_

Volkner blinks a tear from his eye and presses on, Dallas and Kaitlyn not far behind.

"Go, Milotic!" Cynthia exclaimed.

Stephen moaned. Spiritomb walked all over him earlier, so he couldn't imagine how this would be any better.

"Alright, then… Go, Jolteon!"

The yellow dog leapt onto the battlefield, its spiky fur anxiously crackling with electricity.

A ghost of a smile appeared on Cynthia's lips. "Fine, then. Milotic, Rain Dance!"

"Oh, no you don't! Thunder, Jolteon!"

As dark rain clouds formed overhead and began to pour down rain, Jolteon jumped up into the air and fired a huge bolt of lightning into them. At the same time, more lightning exploded from the clouds, conducted by the rain, and ripped into Milotic's scaly armor.

The huge sea serpent tumbled to the ground, roaring in pain, with electricity still shocking it.

To Stephen's utter surprise and/or horror, Cynthia didn't seem the least bit daunted. "Again, nice try, but no cigar, Stephen. Milotic, Mirror Coat."

Stephen cursed violently under his breath as Jolteon was thrown back almost twenty yards by its own force, but doubled. Cynthia then called out to Milotic to Recover, adding salt to the wound.

"I'm sorry, Jolteon, but I think…we're screwed…"

The little dog barked at him. "Jolteon! Jol, jol, TEON!"

Translation: "Yeah, but fuck it; I just wanna make that thing's life miserable!"

Stephen grinned, petting his wounded little buddy. "Now THAT's the spirit."

Tyler growled in pain as another blast of energy sliced past his elbow, leaving a gnarly scar. Just the price of not moving fast enough, he guessed.

"What the hell _happened _to you, Rawson?"

Unleashing yet another powerful attack, this one of the ice variation, the mutant exclaimed, "Does it matter? The important thing is that I've found a new partner, and he's even stronger than yours, even while we're not at our full power! You're making this too easy!"

The Mewtwo side of Tyler's soul roars, "_You'll never be stronger than us, you abomination! You'd already be dead if I you hadn't hit us with a damned meteorite!"_

Deoxys chuckles. "_Mewtwo, you of all Pokemon should know...I've never quite been known for my sense of fair play."_

With that, it disappeared in a flash. All was suddenly quiet.

"Did he… give up?" Tyler asked, his psychic brain rapidly scanning the landscape. No signs of life.

"_He never gives up."_

The eerie quiet chilled their insides. "Wait a minute, I think I sense…"

"_Yes, I feel it, to."_

A pause, and then they both exclaimed, "**_Behind us_**!"

Tyler/Mewtwo spun around just in time to be nearly blinded by another incredible flash. Deoxys' four tentacle-like arms shot forward. However, it hadn't anticipated Tyler's reflexes being as fast as its.

And suddenly the Psychic battle between the two Pokemon/Human hybrids became a wrestling match. Fifty feet above the ground.

"_Give it up, you two," _Deoxys growls through Alex's mouth. "_You were a worthy opponent, I'll allow that much. Perhaps this would have been more of a challenge if the fight had been fair."_

Tyler grimaced as two of the tentacles slithered up to his neck, suffocating him, while the other two continued to wrestle with Tyler's strong arms.

"_But, as I said before…" _Rawson/Deoxys continued, Tyler beginning to lose consciousness. "_I've never quite been fond of fair fights." _It cackled. "_Goodbye, Mewthree…"_

_This is it,_ Tyler thought, the last bits of strength in his arms slowly dying. _We're finally going to die…_

Just then, another voice spoke into his mind. It sounded familiar, but it wasn't Deoxys or Mewtwo. It said, "_No, you're not."_

Without warning, a seemingly invisible force suddenly dragged Deoxys off of Tyler, and his vision suddenly returned to normal. Mewtwo used Recover, and they were good as new.

But where was Deoxys?

Reading his mind, Mewtwo spoke from within him. "_Below!"_

Tyler looked down to see Deoxys on the ground, desperately trying to escape the deadly jaws of a furious Raikou. But as Tyler and Mewtwo watched, Deoxys slowly gained the upper hand. That thing was just too powerful; and, even now, it still was hardly even restored to its full form.

"_The Son of Lightning...he saved our life…"_

Tyler sighed, troubled. "Yeah. Now let's go save his."

Stephen moaned for what must have been the 5th time that day, as Jolteon tumbled to the ground, knocked out for good. Cynthia was the Champion for a reason.

But he wasn't done fighting. Not yet.

Cynthia laughed as Milotic returned to her in a flash. "What next, Stephen? This is your last chance!"

In response, Stephen unhooked a third Pokeball from his belt. Another flash (he felt like he was starting to go blind), and Typhlosion appeared with a roar to greet its new opponent, Cynthia's infamously powerful Garchomp.

"Typhlosion, Smokescreen!" Stephen called out, determined to win at least one round of the match.

At the same time, Cynthia exclaimed, "Garchomp, use Dragon Rush!"

The two monsters rushed towards each other, one with glowing claws and blades, charging with immense power, the other spewing flames and an ungodly amount of smoke from its mouth.

"Now, Typhlosion, evade it!"

At the last second, Typhlosion stopped its charge and dove out of the way, barely missing Garchomp's huge attack. The dragon instead went crashing into the ground, its mouth and eyes filling with smoke.

Cynthia swore more violently than a Champion should be allowed. "Shit...Garchomp, use dig!"

And, at that moment, as the Champion Pokemon of Sinnoh burrowed into the earth, Stephen realized he had a chance. But he had to act quickly.

"Typhlosion! Hurry, before it attacks, use Earthquake!"

Cynthia's eyes widened. "No! Garchomp, get out of there!"

But it was too late. The earth seemed to collapse beneath their feet as Typhlosion shook the ground, and a roar could be heard from the massive hole that was forming in the center of the field.

"Garchomp!" Cynthia screamed.

Suddenly, the battlefield was quiet. Slowly, but surely, Garchomp's huge claw could be seen, reaching out of the crater. It groaned, sensing that defeat was near.

Stephen grinned. "Typhlosion, finish it with Dragon Claw! But take it easy!"

Cynthia could only watch in horror as her most prized Pokemon was bashed into the air by Typhlosion's glowing claw, and smashed down again. It was out.

Cynthia allowed Stephen a few minutes to watch her unmistakeable disbelief. Finally, she admitted, "Nice job, Steve! I'm impressed."

Stephen was taken aback at Cynthia's kindness. Was she just being supportive, or was he really that good? "Yeah, thanks! You're pretty good yourself! Oh, but one thing: don't EVER call me Steve again!"

Cynthia laughed. "Alrighty, as long as you don't call me Cynth!"

"Haha, it's a deal! Now, are we gonna finish this battle, or what?"

Cynthia grinned and pulled out another Pokeball. "Sure, you're on! You've still gotta win twice more, and I promise I'm not going easy!"

Stephen reached to his belt to remove his fourth Pokeball, but was stopped by something in the distance.

"Stephen? What is it?" Cynthia was suddenly concerned. When he didn't immediately respond, Cynthia turned to see what he was staring at. As she turned around, her mouth dropped open. If she had blinked, she probably would have missed it. A huge meteor, smashing into the ground several miles away. The two of them, along with Typhlosion watched in awe as the aftermath of the impact shook the very earth, and the smoke slowly settled. Screams could be heard from the direction of the blast.

Finally, Cynthia croaked, "Do you think... that could have been the same spot that Tyler and Volkner are?"

She turned to Stephen, and the two of them exchanged a quick glance.

Then, "With our luck? Most likely…. yeah."

She sighed. "Either way, that wasn't a normal meteorite."

Cynthia nodded, and they took off running, in the direction of the chaos.

The blasts of the epic telekinetic battle rang in Volkner's ears as his feet dug into the soft hillside, and he ran for dear life. But as the blood pounded in his ears, he couldn't help but think to himself.

_Why won't Tyler let me fight? Why do_ I _get stuck looking after the old man and the little girl? Does he not trust me? Does _anyone _trust me?_

No, it couldn't be true. They had to have SOME respect for him; if it wasn't for that damn Aaron kid who kept beating him, he'd be in the fucking Pokemon league.

_Does my own sister, the champion, think I can't take care of myself?_

And as he ran, the tears of pain and sorrow stinging his eyes, the infamously boring Leader Volkner couldn't help but feel forgotten.

And so he ran on.

Pounding up one of the countless hills in northeastern Sinnoh, Mewtwo and Deoxys looked like nothing more than specks to the strange group of fleeing trainers. But, still, it wasn't far enough. It was hard to get far enough away from a beast like Deoxys.

Dallas, being the oldest, was the first to fall. Unable to press on any further up the increasingly steep hillside, he fell to the ground on all fours, exhausted.

Seeing her grandfather stop out of the corner of her eye, Kaitlyn spun around and fell to one knee, grabbing his shoulder urgently. "

"C'mon, Grampa, we've gotta move!"

Dallas, being the oldest of the group by far, was wheezing to the point of suffocation. "Kaitlyn… baby… you gotta…go on…without me…"

She shook her head and tried to pull him up onto his feet. "I won't leave you behind! Come on, Gramps, get up!"

Still panting, Dallas turned his head to look at the still-fighting Mewtwo and Deoxys, whose battle was slowly but surely moving toward their direction. If Mewtwo couldn't hold out much longer, they were all doomed.

"Wait a second…" Volkner cut in, with no choice but to wait for Dallas to catch his breath. "Where's Raikou?"

At that very moment, a terrific roar shook the hillside, and the magnificent beast came charging up behind them. On its back was none other than Tyler, his black cloak billowing in the wind like a cape, his face its usual stoic expression.

In one swift, powerful movement, Tyler stuck his arm out from Raikou's back and grabbed Dallas, sweeping him off the ground with inhuman strength.

Raikou led them to the top of the hill. Where they could finally stop running.

"Are … are we safe… here?" Kaitlyn panted.

Rather than responding, Tyler turned to watch the ongoing struggle between Mewtwo and Deoxys. Obviously able to see something that normal eyes wouldn't have from that distance, Tyler's usual dull expression slowly turned to that of sheer horror. He spun on his heel, turning to the three humans and Pokemon behind him. All he could shout manage to shout was, "GET BACK–…!"

The rest of his words were drowned out in a gigantic blast of energy that only Mewtwo could cause, and the world around of them was thrown into oblivion.

It look a long time for Frank to come to his senses.

Finally, when he came to, what he saw before him gave him a sudden suspicion that his brain hadn't quite recovered yet. His vision blurry, the young man rubbed his eyes hard to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

A large, colorful Pokemon, decorated in shimmering blues, yellows, and pinks, was floating a few feet above the ground, staring at him. The creature had a strange rounded body, a stubby little tail, no limbs, and what appeared to be three butterfly wing-type things surrounding his body. Its head was made up of a gem, two beady little eyes, and three yellow banana-shaped crescents. Needless to say, it was the strangest creature he had ever seen in his many days as a traveler.

"What the f–…"

"Be at peace, human. There is much explaining that has to be done. You are very lucky to be alive."

"What...what happened? And who are you?"

Like a ghost, Riley appeared out of the corner of Frank's blurry eye.

"Frank, I'd think that you, of all people, would recognize Cresselia."

The young man's eyes widened. "You mean…. YOU'RE Cresselia?"

"_Yes, child. I am here to help you and your friends. The child named Aaron must be found, and this human's partner, Lucario, has severe wounds that must be tended to."_

Frank could only stare in wonder. No matter how many times Pokemon spoke to him through telepathy, it never failed do leave him in a slight daze.

"Well, then… I suppose Riley and I should get go find Aaron, while you help Lucario?"

"Yeah," Riley stepped in. "Sounds like a plan. That is… if Aaron's even still alive…"

Frank tried not to let his spirits get down. "Oh, fuck off! A-rod's gonna be alright, and you know it!"

Riley could only sigh. "If you say so…"

Tyler struggled to stand. The world seemed to be shimmering, his vision blurred, as he rose to lean on a shaky knee. Around him, things moved in slow motion; Volkner, unmoving on the ground, Kaitlyn helping her grandfather to his feet, Dallas, giving a hacking cough and trying to compose himself. A metallic ringing burned into his ears, blocking out all sense of sound aside from Raikou's awesome roar of rage, which seemed to be far off in the distance.

Tyler was dizzy to the point where it felt as if someone was pressing down on his head, preventing him from standing upright. Nothing was clear, and it almost appeared as if a bright light was being shined in his eyes; he had to squint to see the charred trees and ravaged earth around him.

What in Arceus' name could have caused a blast so big? What had Deoxys done?

Almost as far as the eye could see, the settling dust showed landscape all but destroyed by the epic battle in the crater bellow.

Tyler finally managed to drag himself up, ears still ringing, and stagger to the edge of the canyon-like crater that had been formed.

Off into the distance, he screamed hoarsely, "MEWTWO!"

There was no response. As fast as his dazed mind could propel him, he dragged himself into the desolate battlefield, he swayed back and forth, desperately trying to make his way to Mewtwo's body. He found it.

"Mewtwo!" He called again, his senses beginning to restore themselves as he kneeled down beside his fallen brother.

Fortunately, Mewtwo's cold heart was still beating, but only just. The catlike creature blinked its eyes open, and croaked, _Tyler...behind you…_

Almost embarrassed that he himself had not detected the threat, Tyler spun around just in time to see a much weaker Deoxys lunge at him, eyes wild with fury. Even with his superhuman reflexes, the boy was too stunned to protect himself as the abomination flew forward to attack. Tyler could only flinch and suffer his inevitable death…

But still, death did not come. Deoxys had moved with lightning speed, but something intercepted it. Only inches from Tyler's face, the monster was thrown back be the resounding _CRACK o_f a gunshot.

In its weakened state, the bullets were plenty to knock Deoxys backwards. It was thrown to the ground, writhing in pain, but not dead.

Just then, Dallas stepped into Tyler's vision, holding a still-smoking shotgun.

"Dallas, you–…you saved our lives."

"Shit, don't thank me yet, son."

He stepped toward Deoxys' frenzied body and fired again,

Still not dead, the beast only continued to squirm. It let out a high-pitched, metallic screech, and several damaged red-and-green armor plates fell from its body, showing pieces of Rawson's limbs still intact.

As Dallas reloaded, another gunshot rang out across the valley; this time, it came from Stephen, who jumped down into the canyon and began firing his trademark pump-action shotty.

Deoxys couldn't seem to take it anymore. With a spasm, it let out a shriek that seemed to be a cross between Rawson's voice, and Deoxys'.

"_Foolish humans…i will return...stronger than ever...and you will all burn…"_

A great flash of light, and the mutant was gone. Teleported, somewhere safer.

Stephen made his way to Tyler and Mewtwo, where he blew the smoke off the barrel of his weapon. "That thing just won't fucking _die_, will it?"

Tyler couldn't help but feel relieved. "Stephen, you crazy bastard. How did you find us?"

Stephen laughed. "When Mewtwo makes an atomic explosion, it's hard to miss…"

As if on cue, Mewtwo let out an anguished cough. Well, as much of a cough as a mouthless organism can make.

"He's in pain, we need to get him to a Veilstone" Tyler said, a grave tone riddling his voice.

"Yeah, let me help," Stephen grunted as he lifted Mewtwo of the ground, wrapping its arm around his shoulders. "I don't suppose you guys could do that flashy little thing where Mewtwo, like, disappears inside your soul, could you?"

Surprisingly, Mewtwo spoke, breathing heavily through its nostrils. "_No, our combined wounds….they would...cause our souls...to collapse...need separate...treatment…"_

Stephen raised his eyebrows, and began to help the creature out of the huge crater. "Well, the doctors are gonna get a kick out of seeing _you_ at their Pokemon Center…"

"Tyler!" Cynthia practically squealed, scrambling down the face of the crater, not caring that her elegant dress was being ruined. Arriving in the smoldering rubble of what was once a northern Sinnoh Valley, she fell to the ground beside the injured man. Doing her best not to hurt him, she pulled him to his feet and wrapped him in a tight hug.

Tears spilling down her red cheeks, she buried her face in his charred shoulder. "I...I thought I'd lost you forever…"

Surprised, Tyler returned the hug, making contact with another human being for the first time in years. "I thought you hated me…" He grunted, shakily trying to support himself.

She sniffled and held him by the shoulders, smiling a him through tears. "No, I...think I love you!"

Tyler's eyes widened as the Champion hugged him again. Unable to believe the words that were coming out of his mouth, he whispered into her ear ever so softly. "I...love you to."

And, standing there at the base of a smoldering crater, Tyler received his first kiss.

Stephen looked back from his position on the valley, and shifted his weight to support Mewtwo. He couldn't help but chuckle and mutter, "It's about time."

From where he stood at the top of the valley, Volkner tiredly sat and helped each of the heroes up and out of the huge crater. First Mewtwo was pulled over the ledge, followed by an exhausted Stephen. Then came Cynthia, who was helped up by Tyler, and then Tyler himself.

Dallas was the last to pull himself out of the valley.

"GRAMPA!" Kaitlyn screeched, running to embrace the old man. "You're alive!"

Despite his lack of energy, Dallas chuckled. "More than alive, sweetie. I jus' saved these here boys!"

Tyler rolled his eyes. "Eh...we would've figured it out somehow."

Dallas only laughed. "Yer' welcome."

Tyler turned away and spoke to the others. "Stephen, Cynthia, this is Dallas Houston, and his granddaughter, Kaitlyn.

Blushing, Kaitlyn giggled and winked at Stephen.

Taken aback, the boy mouthed, "I have a girlfriend." Immediately, the young diva's expression changed to one of disappointment.

"Wait a minute…" Cynthia spoke in wonder. "You're Dallas Houston? _The _Dallas Houston!"

"Shit, Dallas," Volkner spoke for the first time in a while. "Do you know _everyone_?"

"Volkner, shut up!" Cynthia laughed. "He doesn't _know_ me, but I know of him!" She turned back to the tired old man. "I've seen you in the Hall of Fame archives...you used to be the Sinnoh champion!"

Dallas grinned, seemingly embarrassed. "Aw, shoot, don' go makin' it sound like a big deal'n all…"

Finally, Stephen cut in. "Guys, I hate to ruin the small talk, but you could see that explsion for miles around. If we don't get the hell out of here, we're gonna have Galactic Grunts up our asses."

Tyler nodded. "Agreed. Let's get to Veilstone, people."

They began to walk quickly, and Stephen was forced to hand Mewtwo's barely-conscious body to Tyler, who had regained his inhuman strength. Raikou was sent forward to warn Maylene, Veilstone Gym Leader, that they were on their way.

But as they set on, uncomfortable thoughts began to slip through Tyler's mind.

"_Child, what troubles you?"_

"Nothing, it's just… When we were fighting that… that _thing._"

"_Yes?"_

"It called us something that caught my attention."

"_Oh? And what was that?"_

Tyler sighed. There was an edge to his voice as he spoke.

"...Mewthree…"

THE END

**Wow, that was a long chapter...**

**IMPORTANT: In case you guys didn't notice, the story recently switched from being second person present, to first person past. And to be honest, the only reason I changed it was because it was such an awkward writing style, i kept accidentally changing it in mid-chapter. Also, I should take this time to point out that there are two Stevens in our story: Stephen (no last name), spelled with a PH, and Steven Stone, the Hoehn Champion, who will soon play a pretty big role. His name is spelled with a V; don't get confused, these two are very different characters.**

**Last, but not least, if you've read this far into the story then you are officially awesome. As i said at the beginning, it's a very long story; we're about 2/3rds done with book 1, and we've got at least 2 more books to go. **

**Happy Reading!**

**-Sonic's Shadow**


	12. Chapter 12: Loose Ends

**CHAPTER 12:** LOOSE ENDS

"Come on, keep moving! Don't stop!"

The group's feet must have been heard for miles around as they ran as fast as their stamina allowed across the Sinnoh countryside, which was becoming increasingly more flat, with less hills in the distance and more city lights.

"Veilstone's less than a mile away, it should be coming into sight any second!" Tyler called out reassuringly.

Stephen was amazed that, after all the man had been through, he was able to keep up with the others, while at the same time carrying a barely-conscious Mewtwo on his shoulders.

Without warning, Raikou (who was practically jogging and was still a good 30 meters ahead of the group) lurched to a stop, with narrowed eyes and a snout tilted upward.

"What is it, Raikou?" Volkner asked, gasping for air.

The beast sniffed the air for a moment and growled lightly. "_It seems we have company…"_

The air was still for a moment. Suddenly, a nearby explosion shook the earth, sending debris and dust flying across the field.

"SHIT!" Stephen screamed as they dove for cover under s nearby patch of trees.

As the rest of them experienced a brief moment of panic and confusion, Tyler remained calm and cool as ever. "Looks like Team Galactic finally caught up to us…"

The others instinctively ducked their head in shock as another explosion landed, even closer than the last.

"What the hell is going on?" Kaitlyn screamed.

In response, Volkner charged from cover and shouted, "MORTAR!" while simultaneously releasing Magnezone's Pokeball.

Sure enough, a convoy of military vehicles could be seen in the distance, approaching quickly and carrying what appeared to be a large artillery cannon. Even through the dust that was being kicked up by the convoy, the large Galactic logo was easily visible from where the team was standing.

Stephen bravely unclipped a Pokeball and stepped beside Volkner. "I'll hold them off, you guys get to Veilstone!"

"Then I'm coming with you!" Cynthia stepped forward defiantly.

"No way; Cynthia, too many of your Pokemon are injured. There's no way they'll last against these bastards. Raikou, and Dallas, make sure these guys get to safety!"

Cynthia raised an eyebrow, looking more feminine than ever despite the mortar shell that struck the ground only a few meters away. "And why are _you_ suddenly calling the shots?"

Stephen grinned while letting out Heracross and Noctowl. "Because I have the conscious Pokemon and the loaded shotgun. Now, get the hell out of here!"

"Hold up." Saturn orders his driver. The lead jeep slows to a halt, causing the convoy behind them to stop abruptly.

"Sir," His driver speaks, voice a bit shaky, "what are we stopping for?"

Saturn says nothing for a moment, as he removes his sunglasses and piers through the mounted binoculars on the truck's dashboard. "Well that's interesting."

"...Sir?"

"One of them turned around. He's coming towards us...the others are out of sight." He pauses for a moment, and then speaks promptly into a radio in his hand. "Hold fire."

A garbled voice came from the other end. "But sir...what if they're coming to attack us? Shouldn't we take them out from here?"

"Negative; if they wanted to fight, then they'd have done it by now. I've only got eyes on one man, let's keep moving."

As the others took off in the opposite direction, Volkner's mind was reeling. He looked around; they had six trainers, Mewtwo, and Raikou, and yet Tyler only let Stephen go to fight.

That did it for the Leader. Volkner was young man, but had the personality– and spirit–of someone with much more experience and wisdom. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for his patience.

Now at the pack of the group, Volkner looked back at Stephen in anger._They don't trust me...none of them! _

He made his decision. Volkner's feet skidded to a halt as he held out a hand to stop Magnezone, and furiously clutched a Pokeball with the other. "This is bullshit…" he murmured, too quietly for the others to hear. With that, he took off sprinting in the opposite direction, towards the coming fight.

"_Child, what are you doing?" _Raikou's ancient voice called out into his head.

"_Don't try to stop me, Raikou. Tyler and Cynthia...they don't trust worth a shit, but there's no way in hell I'm running away from a fight!"_

"_I know. I never said I was going to stop you." _

Suddenly, Volkner was swept up by the coattail of his electric blue leather jacket, and he was riding on a very fast-moving Raikou. Wondering how the immense creature had pursued him without the others noticing–yet not really caring–Volkner buried his fists in his companion's bright yellow fur and gazed ahead towards the open field ahead of them, and thought, "_Won't they see us coming?"_

"_No, we are moving far too fast for them to get a good look at us. We will catch up with the human Stephen at the base of this hill, where we are out of their vision."_

Smiling as he realized that the they were darting through the grassy plain at a blinding speed, Volkner said out loud, "Then let's get these bastards…"

Stephen stopped in surprise as he heard something behind him moving. He spun around, Pokeball at the ready, to face the new threat, and was startled by what he saw.

"Hey, Stephen."

"Volkner, what the hell are you doing here?"

The tired-looking young man slid down from Raikou's back, and ran a steady hand through his perfect, thunder-yellow hair. "Cynthia and Tyler don't trust me worth a damn, they se to keep forgetting that I'm the strongest Gym Leader in Sinnoh."

Stephen raised his eyebrows. "Well, right now you're not a Leader any more than Cynthia's Champion. Now, do we have a plan?"

Volkner looked at him, confused. In truth, it was the first time he had face a problem that he had not thought about prior to solving it.

_All this anger, it's going to get me killed…_

But before he could confess to Stephen, Raikou growled. "_Mewtwo...he says the others are in danger!"_

Alarmed, Stephen looked into the distance helplessly. "In danger...from what?"

Raikou turned and narrowed his eyes. As he spoke, the air seemed to cool just a bit more. "_Team Rocket has found them…"_

"Shit," Volkner muttered under his breath. "What do we do now?"

The Pokemon seemed to be reading the air for several long moments. Then, "_Mewtwo says two Team Rocket helicopters came across them and picked them up. Tyler...he surrendered without a fight."_

Volkner swore again under his breath. "Fucking coward…"

"_Child, do not blame Tyler. Mewtwo is dying; The child named Tyler could defeat two mere helicopters with a single Pokemon, but he is wise enough to know when to fight, and when to save his energy for another day."_

Stephen sighed, looking at his Pokeball longingly. "We've got Team Galactic on one side and Team Rocket on the other; If we go to hep Tyler and the others, Team Galactic will catch up and there'll be a bloodbath. On the other hand, if we stay and fight, Team Rocket might get away, and we'll never see the others again."

Volkner's hands clenched. "You don't expect Tyler, of all people, to have a plan to get them out of this? I've known him much longer than you, and believe me: Tyler ALWAYS has a plan. He's never wrong."

"Normally, you'd be right. But Mewtwo's dying, and they don't have that kind of time. I think Tyler's counting on us to get them out of this. Raikou, you need to go help the others, while Volkner and I hold off Saturn's men!"

The beast shook its head in defiance, its fur crackling with electricity. "_I am Volkner's guardian. I cannot abandon him–especially to such a danger as this–without his full consent."_

"Well, of course Volkner will let you leave!" Stephen exclaimed. He turned to Volkner, brow furrowed. "...You WILL let him leave, won't you?" Volkner seemed to hesitate, lost in thought. He couldn't HONESTLY be considering making Raikou stay…_could he?_

"Stephen…" Volkner sighed. With a conflicted expression on his face, Steven realized that the young, depressed Leader looked more tired than ever. "Just...think about. It's them against just two choppers, while we've got a whole goddamn convoy to deal with. And, if they've already been captured, then Raikou can't help them anyway!"

Stephen grabbed the man by the shoulders and shook him vigorously, glaring into his sad eyes. "Volkner, listen to yourself! You're the one who called Tyler a coward for surrendering, and now you're afraid to stand and fight alone? What's the matter with you?"

Raikou stepped forward with a mighty growl, ready to help Volkner if Stephen got violent.

But Volkner held out a hand to steady the beast, never taking his eyes off Tyler. "Raikou...go."

"_Child, are you sure? As much as I wish to defend Mewtwo, you are my first and only priority."_

"Yes, just...just go."

The huge tiger–who stood on all fours at about Stephen's shoulder length–nuzzled Volkner's side affectionately. "_Be safe, child. Use your mind, not your muscle, and you just might live to see me again."_

"Don't say that, Raikou. We'll be back in no time. Now get out of here, and remember: don't attack until you understand what's going on!"

Raikou seemed to smile under his huge, pearl-white fangs. "_I was just about to tell you the same thing, child." _And, in a flash, he was gone.

Stephen turned to Volkner, still angry. "Raikou understands his priorities. I think you need to start understanding yours, too."

Volkner pulled him closer by the front of his shirt, smirking. "Listen to me; I've known Tyler since we were both children. For my entire life, both he and Cynthia have outshone me in everything from Pokemon battling to learning how to tie our goddamn shoes. So what the hell makes you think it's my duty to sacrifice our only chance at making it out of this alive, just to make sure that the fucking CHAMPION and her all-powerful psychic boyfriend don't break a sweat?"

Stephen continued to glare at the slightly-taller man defiantly. "You think this is about PRIDE? I've got new for you, Volkner: I'm not in this for pride. Hell, I don't even fully understand why I'm here at all! I just know that I followed you through those woods that night because Tyler knows something about this soulstone, and because I swore to myself the day I watched my parents DIE in front of me that I'd rid the world of every on of these bastards!"

Stephen swatted away Volkner's hand, which still had a grip on his shirt, without breaking eye contact. "I know what I'M fighting for, Volk. Do you?"

With that, he turned and walked in the opposite direction. "Now, come on. We're gonna be in Saturn's line of sight any minute now."

Looking at the younger man, admittedly slightly impressed with the speech, Volkner couldn't help but chuckle.

Stephen stopped, surprised. "What's so funny?"

Volkner grinned and stared at the ground. "I just remembered...That night, when I first met you, and we beat all those Galactic soldiers?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Well, that….that THING that killed them all, when it created Raikou and the others, he called them 'The Forsaken.'"

Stephen turned around with a raised eyebrow, intrigued. "And?"

Volkner looked back up, staring off into the distance as he began to walk up the steep hill. "Well, Raikou's the safe one now. It's US that really are forsaken." he turned to Stephen without breaking his pace. "This is our last stand, Stephen. Our finest hour. I sure as hell hope you've got a plan."

Stephen grinned as he continued walking up the hill. Any second, they would reach the top, and Saturn's men would be in clear view. "Oh, I have a plan, alright." As if on cue, Ampibom crawled out of his backpack and onto his shoulder, causing Volkner to wonder if the thing ever actually used a Pokeball. Stephen scratched the little thing's head and fed it a treat. "I heard from a reliable source that you've got one of these little guys, too."

"Yeah, why?"

Stephen's grin grew even wider. "Well, I learned a long time ago that two Ampiboms working together can accomplish just about anything…"

"Sir, I've got two civilians, eleven o'clock, thirty yards out!"

Commander Saturn, who was lazily resting in the back of the tank, rolled his eyes. "Well, do they have any Pokemon with them?"

The nervous grunt in the passenger's seat squinted through the binoculars raising a hand to ward off the glare of the sun. "Um...y–yeah, yessir!"

There was a moment's awkward pause, and Saturn growled, "And?"

"And what, sir?"

"WHAT SPECIES ARE THE FUCKING POKEMON?" Saturn shouted, quickly losing his patience.

"Uh, I'm...not sure, sir…"

"You've gotta be shitting me…" Getting up from his reclined chair angrily, Saturn shoved the grunt aside, almost pushing him into the driver, and snatched the binoculars out of his hand. Saturn's mouth dropped, and his hands squeezed the binoculars tightly with rage. "Impossible…"

"Sir?"

Saturn practically threw the binoculars back at the grunt, who was now fearing for his life. "Learn your Pokemon, dammit; that black one's an Umbreon, and the other one's an Espeon. And those aren't civilians; they're Cynthia's men. Sent to kill us, probably. See, that's Leader Volkner, you dumb peice of shit!"

Before the cowering grunt could apologize, Saturn grabbed a radio from the dashboard. "Bravo One-Nine, we've got two hostiles to the Northwest, approaching fast."

"Copy that, Bravo Leader; I see 'em. You want us to open fire? We don't see weapons, aside from the two Pokemon."

Saturn thought or a moment, then spoke into the static, "Negative, negative. Let's form a perimeter, see what they want. My radars don't pick up anything else in the area; if they wanted to attack, they would have done it by now. But let's get this over with quick, I want to be in Veilstone by sundown."

"Copy that, sir. Over."

Stephen and Volkner's casual pace came to a halt as the convoy–consisting of six pickup trucks, two jeeps, and what was presumably Saturn's personal tank–veered off course and rolled into a neat half-circle formation just in front of them. As a grunt in the lead jeep rose from the back with a megaphone in his hand, Volkner whispered out of the corner of his mouth. "I sure as hell hope you know what you're doing."

"I told you, I have a plan." Stephen grinned as he rested his hands behind his back.

"So, you got a gun?"

"Yeah, but I don't plan on using it; we're going in the old-fashioned way."

"Stephen, they've got a freaking _tank!_ I knew you were crazy, but I didn't know you were suicidal!"

Stephen couldn't help but laugh. "Just trust me, all right? I–"

He was cut off by the loud megaphone. "Attention, civilians! This is Team Galactic! You are currently in a warzone; state your names and business!"

Volkner called out, "My name is Volkner Watson, Gym Leader of Sunnyshore, and this is my comrade, Stephen–…" he hesitated, and turned to Stephen, lowering his voice. "Actually, I don't think you ever told me you last name."

Stephen whispered in his ear, and Volkner shouted back at the convoy, "… Stephen Matthews! We are simply travelers; we mean you no harm!"

The man with the bullhorn scoffed. "Why would the Leader of a city as large as Sunnyshore be traveling in a desolate place like this?"

"I'm on a personal vacation, to visit relatives in Celestic Town!"

The grunt lowered the bullhorn and spoke into his radio. "I dunno, boss; seems pretty sketchy to me, but their story's likely. Do we know if these guys were with the ones we were shooting at earlier?"

A moment's pause from the other end, and then, "I don't buy it...but we can't know for sure. If these guys really were on their own, it would have to be one helluva coincidence. Tell them to surrender."

The megaphone blared again. "Volkner Watson and Stephen Matthews, step forward with your hands where we an see them, or we will fire on you!"


	13. Chapter 13: Walking on Water

**CHAPTER 13: **WALKING ON WATER

"Cresselia, where are you taking us?" Riley's voice was uneasy, speaking distractedly as his eyes warily grazed the increasingly claustrophobic forest around them.

"_It is not much farther, child. Have patience."_

"No, yeah, I got that. I asked _where _you're taking us. Not when we're getting there."

"_All will be explained shortly, child."_

Although he didn't dare speak it out loud, Riley was getting fed up with the stoic being that they now followed through the dense forest of Full Moon island. When he pictured a legendary, he expected it to be some sort of huge, godlike, save-the-day creature who would right their wrongs in the blink of an eye. Not an emotionless, cryptic, glowing, glorified banana that floated through the forest with no obvious destination.

He considered giving up and going off to search for Aaron, he really did; but he couldn't leave Lucario, and he couldn't abandon the mission. That little girl in Canavale was counting on him, and he was a man of his word. Like it or not, he was obligated to fight to the death for the prevalence of justice.

Obviously, Frank also felt the need to voice his exasperation as well.

"So… you're not telling us where we're going?"

"_No."_

"Well, will you at least tell us WHY we're going there?"

"_No."_

"Then can you do anything to speed this up?"

"_No."_

"Is 'no' the only word you know?"

"_No."_

Riley rolled his eyes. Oh, great, a guide with a sense of humor.

"This is fucking BS…" mumbled a disgruntled Frank. "Ever since I started rolling with you guys, we've done nothing but walk around and get into trouble that I've gotta pull you out of."

Riley sighed, carefully stepping over a Tangela that was resting on the forest floor. When the clown of your group is the one complaining the loudest, you know you're in an uncomfortable situation. "Frank, someday something bad is gonna happen to us, and you're gonna be just as neck-deep in shit as the rest of us. On that day, I'll be more than happy to tell you 'I told you so.'"

"Yeah, well, as long as we're following this thing, that day might come any minute. We're fucking sitting ducks, clambering around in this godforsaken jungle. I mean, seriously, how can such a small little island be full of this much shit?"

To Shuckle's dismay, Riley punched Frank in the shoulder. Hard. Through gritted teeth, he growled "Shut the hell up! Do you wanna offend Cresselia? We're here on a mission, and we may not get another shot at this. Don't fuck it up."

As Shuckle angrily tucked its head back into its shell, which was as safely lodged to Frank's back as ever, its master grumbled. "Well, I've just about had it with thi–"

"_We have arrived."_

The two young men quickly snapped out of their quiet argument at Cresselia's sudden words. Frank spun around, warily examining their surroundings.

"Arrived? Where? This place looks _the_ exact same as the last 5 goddamn miles we've hiked; it's just trees and Pokemon shit."

Although its face held no features that were even remotely human-like, Riley could have sworn that the ghost of a smile was riddled across Cresselia's expression. "_Watch."_

A sudden telekinetic force caused the thick shrubbery before them to shake, slowly falling away. Riley and Frank's mouths dropped open as the pathway ahead of them was cleared to reveal a scene that even their vividest, wildest dreams could not conjure.

"Holy shi-..."

"How the hell…"

"Shuck, shuck shuckle…"

"_Children...Welcome to Full Moon Springs."_

"Get your filthy hands OFF me, you useless peice of shit! Do you know who I AM?"

The Rocket grunt cackled as he shoved Cynthia into the helicopter, gagging her with an old rag and double-checking the handcuffs he had bound to both her hands and feet.

"Not tight enough, I suppose." The man viciously tightened the cuffs, cold metal biting into the Champion's skin. The sudden, sharp pain caused her to cry out through the gag, but she refused to give the grunts the satisfaction of seeing her shy away from danger.

Through her peripheral vision, she could only helplessly watch as the others were subdued by their captors, as well.

"Geddoff my granddaughter, ya slimy bastards!" Dallas roared as the the grunts roughly threw him to the ground, confiscating his weapons. "If you touch a single fuckin' hair on her head, I'll kill the lot of ya!"

Cynthia expected Kaitlyn to be throwing a fit; based on her prior knowledge of the girl's personality, she wold have assumed that the young teenager would have broken down under pressure. To her bittersweet surprise, Candice's sister remained as composed as a child of her stature could have been in the given situation. Even when a gun was placed to her head, Kailtyn only sobbed quietly and gave in to the Rockets' demands, never showing any visible signs of weakness or panic. For the first time, Cynthia understood why Tyler had approved of the girl accompanying them on the mission.

Tyler.

The guard had shoved her up against the hull of the chopper, but Cynthia was able to turn her head far enough to the right to watch as the grunts tied Tyler down, binding him with far more chains and ropes than they had for her. Obviously, they were afraid that he would use his telekinetic gifts to break free; what they didn't know was that Tyler was nowhere near as powerful without the help of Mewtwo's soul. Yes, he was still unnaturally strong and clever, but not to the point where he was able to fight off two squadrons of heavily armed Team Rocket soldiers.

Cynthia and the others hadn't stood a chance against the attackers. For some reason, Tyler's acute senses hadn't picked up on the two helicopters before it was too late. Maybe he had been oblivious to them out of fatigue, or maybe Team Rocket's new technology simply made the choppers stealthy to the point where even Tyler didn't see them coming. Either way, the two winged beasts had risen up from the valley before them, to face the four wanders at the very moment that Veilstone came into sight below.

If there was a God, he had a cruel sense of humor.

They had surrendered without a fight.

"All right, spin 'em up!" Shouted the man who appeared to be in charge of the squadron. "Let's get these cocksuckers to Veilstone HQ; boys, Giovanni's gonna be pleased with this one! First round tonight's on me!" Then, he turned to Tyler with a sly grin. "Let's see you boys get outta this one. You're gonna have to pull some miracles to see tomorrow, kid. Too bad nobody can walk on water, not even you."

The guards seemed to have decided that Dallas and Tyler were no longer a threat; they left the two captives unattended in the bay of the helicopter, focusing their attention on restraining Mewtwo.

Immediately after their capture, the Rocket grunts had restrained Mewtwo with a peculiar sort of technology; handcuffs that not only bound the Pokemon's limbs magnetically, but subdued his psychic powers. Tyler had never seen the machine before, but it was apparent that Mewtwo had.

It was the first time Tyler ever saw fear in the Pokemon's eyes.

As Cynthia and Kailtyn's chopper began to l ift off the ground, the the second one's blades began to rotate. Tyler's memory was beginning to falter, but it was at about this time that Dallas was forcefully strapped into the seat across from Tyler. Suffice to say, the old man was seething with rage.

"Touchin' my grandaughter… takin' my guns… humiliatin' me… we're gonna make these fuckers pay. Tyler, son, what's the plan?"

Tyler didn't respond; he only stared at the floor, his mind quietly racing. Dallas spoke some more, growling profanities at the grunts in rage, but Tyler had blocked out the sound. All he could hear was the rhythmic pulse of the helicopter blades, and the anguished cries of Kaitlyn in the distance.

Some dreamlike notion caused him to finally look up, not at Dallas, but at the machine that was now carrying the girls away. Although the chopper was rising higher and higher, he could still make eye contact with Cynthia. His Love's gaze spoke to him better than words ever could have; she still believed in him.

It was then that Tyler realized he could not back down. There was far too much at stake. He was The Unbeatable Trainer, and he would remain that way for as long as damn possible.

"I'll tell you what the plan is, Dallas…"

By the time their helicopter took off, Cynthia and Kaitlyn were far above them. Still, Tyler couldn't help but gaze out the side of the open chopper.

For obvious reasons, they had considerably more Rocket grunts in their vehicle than the others. Their captors clearly wanted to make absolutely sure that Tyler and Mewtwo were secure.

"What'sa matter, punk?" The nearest guard chuckled as he noticed Tyler's usually-emotionless face break character. "Ya miss your girlfriend? Don't worry, bitch'll be fine. Giovanni couldn't give less of a shit about a washed-up champion and some whore Gym Leader's good-for-nothing sister."

"Why, you bastard…" Dallas growled, looking ready to spring forward out of sheer rage.

The old man was silenced as another guard struck him in the gut, hard, knocking the wind out of him. Dallas collapsed, gasping for breath, held upright only by the too-tight belt that fastened him in his seat.

"Nice hat, old-timer." The second grunt sneered as he lifted the cowboy hat from Dallas' head, trying it on himself. "I knew you were an old fuck, but I didn't know you were from the fuckin' 1800s."

The other guards howled with laughter at the joke, violently shoving Dallas back and forth as the poor man struggled to regain his breath. "You...you boys'd better… had better get yer hands off my hat…or yall're gonna…gonna regret it..."

"Yeah, asshole, or what? You're gonna snore us to death? Blow me, old man."

It was at this point that Tyler made contact with Raikou.

"_Child, I am willing to fight, but I fear I am too late. I cannot attack the vehicles from this range."_

"_Well, I guess we'll have to bring the choppers to you, Raikou."_

"_Child…?"_

"_Give me a moment. I'll improvise. Just be ready."_

Something was wrong. Tyler forced himself to tone out the guards harassing Dallas, closing his eyes and focusing on the only other passenger in the chopper: the pilot.

"**Delta, Charlie, niner-niner, this is Red two, comin' in hot. We have two captives on board, former champion Dallas Houston and Enemy X. Come in, command, requesting priority to land. We have precious cargo on board. I repeat, precious cargo on board."**

Then, on the other end of the radio: **"Command here, Red two, we here ya. Permission to take priority over Red One, over. Red One will be notified. Veilstone HQ out."**

Tyler swore under his breath, causing the guard on his left to shove him. His original plan had been to hijack the chopper mid-flight and shoot down the one that held Cynthia and Kaitlyn captive, confident that he would be able to use his Pokemon to save them before the first chopper crashed. Now, according to the radio transmission, they were taking landing priority in Veilstone, which could only mean that their chopper would speed up and move in front of the other Heli.

Any attempt to hijack their chopper would result in the other blowing them out of the air.

Meanwhile, Dallas was taking a brutal beating, both verbally and physically. As one grunt chuckled and tried the man's trademark cowboy hat on for size, another continued to jab Dallas in the stomach, whispering into his ear with a sinister grin.

"Asshole, when I'm done with you, I'm gonna love havin' that little slut you call your grandkid all to myself."

Despite everything, Dallas still managed to choke out a few words. "...Really? C–Cause, I'd heard… I'd heard yall Rockets weren't into that sorta thing… ya–...ya know, not havin' dicks 'n all…"

The grunt's expression shifted to one of sheer anger. "What did you say, old man?" He shouted, striking Dallas across the face.

"N–nothing, i… well, I would've made some wise-ass remark 'bout you an' yer ol' lady, but… ya'll don't look like yer int'a homosexuality 'n all..."

"That's it, you old fucker!" The grunt growled, roughly jerking Dallas from his seat and holding him on the edge of the helicopter's open hull. Dallas laughed out loud, turning his head to stare down into the blue oblivion below.

The other several grunts in the chopper, who had been chuckling at the conversation moments before, suddenly became uneasy. "Bernie, takeiteasy, man! We told you to rough up the old bastard, not try to throw him out the fuckin' window!"

"What difference does it make?" sneered the first guard, Bernie. "I don't have to take this shit from this old coot. He wants to run his fuckin' mouth off to me? See if I care; I can just kill 'em now, Giovanni doesn't need him alive!"

Tyler shifted in his seat, uncomfortably. Dallas was up to something; he was sure of it. He just hoped the old man knew what he was doing.

Dallas chuckled again, as the disgruntled guard held him by his vest over a 400 meter drop. "How much are they payin yall for this here job, sonny? Enough to keep yer daddy's coke business goin' so he can pay fer his Scotch?"

"ENOUGH!" Mad with rage, Bernie drew his pistol, seemed to decide not to shoot Dallas, and instead smashed the butt of the gun into his face.

Even Tyler had to wince at the all-too-clear sound of Dallas' nose cartilage crushing.

Spitting blood into the sky below, Dallas' sputtering was all but incoherent.

"I just… I wish that… I wish we had… a Birch parachute…"

Tyler looked up, meeting Dallas' pained gaze as the man uttered what seemed to be complete nonsense.

"Tyler… a Birch… Parachute…"

"What did he say?" Asked the second grunt incredulously. "A… A Birch Parachute? What the hell does that mean?"

Bernie raised an eyebrow, looking back at Dallas, seriously considering throwing the man over the edge. "This crazy fucker's lost his goddamn mind."

Then, it became clear to Tyler. The Rockets had no idea what Dallas was trying to say, but he understood. Tyler understood perfectly.

Genius.

"I don't feel too good…" Tyler grasped his stomach as much as his restraints would allow, as if in pain.

"What'sa matter, punk, ya afraid of heights?" Chuckled the guard beside him.

"Please, I…. I need medication, or… a doctor."

The guard laughed. "Buddy, you'll be lucky if you get a goddamn priest at your funeral, let alone a doctor while you're still alive. You're already a dead man, now shut the fuck up and wait till we get to Veilstone."

"Please…" Unable to speak anymore, Tyler doubled over and threw up all over the man's boots.

"MotherFUCKER!" Shouted the grunt, shoving Tyler's shaking body aside and ripping off the vomit-soaked boots. "You Sinnoh bitches and your diseases, I can't wait till we get out of this hellhole."

The other grunts–except for Bernie, whose attention was still focused on Dallas– shrank back from Tyler, disgusted.

"Fuck!" Another shouted, pinching his nose. "That's gross. Here, Mack, we can't have you landing in Veilstone without boots. Check in the cargo bay; there should be an extra pair."

Dallas saw his chance.

"I can't believe this bullshit. Puking on a chopper, right after ya got pinched? X, punk, you're lucky Giovanni wants you alive. Can you believe this crap, Bernie? ...Bernie?"

There was no response. As the other grunts were making a fuss over finding Mack a pair of boots, Bernie remained motionless, still holding Dallas over the edge of the chopper.

"Bernie, what'sa matter with you? Bernie, man are you even listening to me? You can't– HOLY SHIT!"

The other guards, who had been distracted by the vomit dilemma, spun around at the guard's sudden outcry. He was staring in horror at Bernie, eyes fixed on something from an angle that the others couldn't see. Slowly, ever so slowly, Bernie turned around, eyes bigger than those of a Stantler caught in headlights.

Reason: There was a .44 Magnum pointed into his mouth.

Less than three miles away, a couple hundred meters below, it was a rather boring, ordinary, bleakly uneventful day for a certain secretary at the Veilstone Galactic HQ. Finishing up the charts he had been printing up to fax to Commander Saturn, he yawned and checked his watch. 5:42, P.M.

Twelve more minutes, and he finally check out and go home. God, he hated his job. The man silently promised himself that he wouldn't check his watch for at least 10 more minutes; a promise he knew he wouldn't keep.

The door chime buzzed as it opened, and a shadow blocked the light of the evening sunset through the glass front door. Without looking up, the secretary addressed the newcomer in his well-rehearsed monotone. "Welcome to Galactic HQ, Veilstone chapter. If you'd like to schedule a meeting with Mr. Cyrus, you can talk to Marge in Public Relations.

The voice responded quietly. "No, no, that's okay. You see, Cyrus and I are good old friends. I don't believe a scheduled appointment is necessary."

Still, without looking up, the desk clerk responded, "Sir, I'm afraid you don't undersan–"

"No, you don't understand. You're fired."

The secretary finally looked up at the stranger in sudden bewilderment. Before he even met Giovanni's gaze, the silenced 10mm bullet pierced his skull.

He was dead before he hit the floor.

As Rocket troops stormed the bottom floor of the building, Giovanni calmly rolled his wheelchair towards the secretary's body, not minding the pool of blood that began to soak into the wheels.

He checked the man's watch. Poor bastard; he'd forgotten to set it back. The man was supposed to have checked out fifteen minutes ago. A small but fatal mistake.

Operation: Takeover had begun.


	14. Chapter 14: Cold Sweat

Not sure why I haven't updated on this website in a while, I've got about 5 more chapters ready to go that I'll be posting over the next few days. I'm starting to go back over all the chapters to re-format the page breaks, so it's easier to tell where one scene ends and another begins. You're welcome.

Also, I'm well aware that this chapter is a bit crazy and hard to understand. Just go with it, and don't bother me with physics.

* * *

**Chapter 14: **COLD SWEAT

"What is… I just….how did…..._the fuck?_!"

Again, Cresselia's mouthless face seemed to be somehow laughing at Frank's bewildered splutter of speechlessness.

To be perfectly honest, Riley couldn't blame either of them.

Before the unlikely group of friends, a breathtaking landscape slowly presented itself. Amidst The dense, humid, utterly claustrophobic jungle that coated the face of Full Moon Island, it was hard to imagine a scene as beautiful as Full Moon Springs could even exist. For that reason, the two humans could hardly even believe their eyes.

The clearing seemed to be brighter than the rest of the island, as if the sun simply chose to shine harder on this particular spot. About a hundred meters in diameter, the humans could see the whole area without turning their heads. It was still difficult to take everything in.

On the opposite side of the springs poured a majestic waterfall, its quiet current rhythmically pouring into the lake bellow. On the cliffside behind it, dark crystalline caverns could barely be made out, probably extending deeper into the island's interior for who-knows-how-many miles. The lake that the waterfall formed was crystal clear; although it couldn't have been less that thirty meters deep in some parts and spanned about eighty meters of the clearing, Riley had no doubt he could have seen across it from any point in under water.

Of course, then there were the Pokemon.

While the jungle floor had been dense and nearly uninhabitable by all but the smallest, most persistent creatures, the Springs seemed to house everything from Wurmple to Ratticate to Gyarados. Oddishes and their families; Glooms, Vileplumes, and Bellosoms, danced tirelessly on the cliffside, basking in the sun as they mingsled with the Roselias and Roserades.

Eevees, Vulpixes, Zigzagoons, Growlithes, Houndoors, and all manner of dog-like Pokemon that the trainers didn't even recognize scurried across the glossy-green grass, as their parents napped on the edge of the clearing. Flocks of Pokemon–every sized bird Pokemon imaginable–flew overhead, enjoying the thermal drafts of air that rose from the warm lake.

Oh, the lake; teeming with water Pokemon, its species seemed to be endless. Goldeen, Cloyster, Relicanth, Poliwhirl, Terntacool, Sharpedo, Vaporeon… Frank found it hard to believe that the small lake could support so many different Pokes; there must have been underwater catacombs where they nested. In all his days of traveling the globe, the young man had never seen such a vast array of Pokemon. He even spotted some that were thought to have died out millions of years ago, such as Cradilly and Kaputops. Remarkably, none of the creatures seemed to be dominant, none seemed to be competing with each other; they all coexisted peacefully.

Peace. The thought brought to Frank's attention that he was suddenly more calm than he had ever been in his life, despite his agitated state only moments before. Was it something in the air? Or maybe the water? It didn't matter; the two young boys felt clean, free… as if they were in a perfect dream.

They just didn't want to wake up.

Unfortunately, they had more urgent matters to attend to rather than stare at nature. "_This way."_ Cresselia spoke telepathically, jolting them from their trancelike awe. She seemed to habit of doing that.

Struggling to take his eyes off the waterfall, Riley stammered, "W-where are we going? Why did you bring us here?"

"_The water at this lake… it is clean, pure; it has strange healing properties. There are other such locations like this spread across the globe. Places untouched by humans become havens for Pokemon. Here, place your fallen comrade into the Spring. As long as his heart still beats, there is hope."_

Riley did as he was told, slowly lowering Lucario's seemingly lifeless body into the lake. As its skin made contact, it almost sparkled. Its wounds seemed to heal immediately.

"How is the water this pure? Even Pokemon aren't THAT clean." Frank asked quizzically, transfixed with wonder on the effect the water was having on Lucario's body.

In response to his troubled inquiry, a Suicune appeared above the lake, not 10 feet away, the crystal water glowing with purity as his shimmering paws glided across it. A month ago, the two young men would have fainted on the spot out of sheer shock, but by now they felt as if nothing on Earth could possibly surprise them further.

Of course, the universe would soon go out of its way to prove them wrong.

* * *

As Volkner slowly raised his hands into the air, helplessly, he came upon a surprising revelation: when starring down the barrel of a gun, very few things in the world matter. Loyalty was not one of those things. "Matthews, if this doesn't work…." The corner of his lips barely parted.

"Calm down. It'll work. Trust me."

Trust me. Two words Volkner had never been quite comfortable with. Then again, at this point, he was running out of options rather quickly.

**"I repeat: Volkner Watson and Stephen Matthews! Surrender, put your weapons and Pokeballs where we can see them! THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING!"**

Volkner stepped forward uneasily, hands still in the air, as the convoy of armored vehicles formed an increasingly tighter semicircle around them, forming a radius of no more hand what must have been 30 yards. Stephen's hands were still behind his back.

"Matthews, it's time!" Volkner growled as the men prepared to fire.

"One last question, Watson."

"What the hell could you possibly want me to tell you at a time like this?"

"...What are you willing to die for?"

Without waiting for an answer, Stephen spoke out loud, addressing Saturn and the rest of the oddly soldier-like grunts. "Have it your way, Galactic!"

Time slowed down; Volkner wanted to shut his eyes, to disappear from the entire conflict. Unfortunately for him, fate would not have it that way. He was in this fight, to the end, whether he liked it or not.

Stephen's hands each rose into the air, but that wasn't all. In each hand he held a Pokeball, and on each of his wrists clung one of the trainers' two Ampibom. At this point, things started getting confusing.

Between each Ampibom's stubby little arms was a single Pokeball, and each of their multiple tails held one as well. Of course, the whole movement happened far too fast for anyone to tell what was going on, but had you counted you would have seen that Stephen not held a grand total of 8 Pokeballs in his hands.

Back in his jeep, Saturn choked. "That clever bastard…"

An awkward silence hung in the air, as the countless grunts removed their gazes from the steady sights of their weapons, not entirely sure what was going on. Was this some kind of a joke? Their captive appeared to be performing a balancing act with his Pokemon before them.

Then, the reality of the situation hit them. At that moment, very many things happened in a very short amount of time.

Weapons blazed, Saturn slammed on the throttle of his Humvee, Stephen released his many Pokemon, and Volkner dove for cover, drawing Pokeballs of his own. So much for an old-fashioned Pokemon battle, he supposed.

The first two of Stephen's Pokemon to appear were Golem and Heracross. Heracross lurched forward, its tough shell being put to the test as it deflected the initial wall of bullets that spun its way. Meanwhile, Golem stomped the ground forcefully, firmly planting itself into the earth as boulders rose around it, providing additional cover for it and the two humans. Within seconds, the three of them were out of sight.

Saturn's jeep crashed toward the opposition, as he suddenly regretted his impulsive move. Like a toy truck, the armored vehicle struck Golem's makeshift barricade and rolled over, spinning out and continuing to slide down the steep hill from which Stephen and Volkner had ascended only minutes ago.

Aside from the bullets that Saturn's grunts blindly pumped in Golem's direction, one of the men somehow got a hold of a rocket launcher, and began shelling RPGs in Stephen's general direction.

Amidst the chaos, Stephen and Volkner put their remaining Pokemon to the test. Now completely out of the grunts' line of sight thanks to Golem and its boulders, Stephen called on Kirlia and Espeon to Teleport he and Volkner behind the forces; a move he couldn't believe they hadn't expected.

Simultaneously, Chimecho and Umbreon were deployed, using their telekinetic abilities to assist in Golem and Heracross' distraction. The two trainers had now effectively put the unwitting soldiers into checkmate. It was time to bring out the big guns.

Saturn's lieutenant, the man who had been lucky enough to get off his commander's vehicle moments before it went crashing out of control, was the first to turn around, realizing that he and his men were firing at nothing but barren rocks. The first thing he saw as he spun around, confused, was Typhlosion's face as it opened its mouth to give him a face-full of fire. It was also the last.

Glaceon, Flareon, Luxray, and Raichu were not far behind, working together to flip and immobilize the heavy war jeeps, one by one.

For the first time, Stephen and Volkner began to suspect that they might actually survive to see the end of the day.

* * *

The guards in the chopper suddenly froze, unsure of how to react to their leader being held at gunpoint, while dangling thousands of feet above the air. The man closest to Tyler finally came to his sentence and scrambled to pull out his gun, the others hesitantly following suit.

Bernie whimpered at the sight of his men training their weapons on him. Voice muffled by the pistol stuck to his inner cheek, he gurgled "Don't shoot, you assholes! Don't fucking shoot!"

"What do you want?" Another Rocket grunt asked, voice cracking slightly.

Dallas laughed maniacally, and for a briefly ironic moment Tyler wondered how the old man could be so lighthearted in such a ridiculous situation. "Whadda I _want? _What I want is for y'all to set me'n my boy down here, so I c'n get my li'l girl and up'n gittoutta here. But I know that ain't how it's gonna go down, is it, sonny?"

The grunt cleared his throat nervously. "If… if you don't let our leader go, we'll fire on you!"

At this, Bernie moaned, but his words were incoherent. Meanwhile, the all-but-forgotten Tyler had doubled over again, seemingly in pain. Through his feigned sickness and the situation with Dallas, nobody noticed him discreetly wrap a thin string around the boot of the grunt next to him.

Back to Dallas. At the grunt's words, the old cowboy chuckled. "Let 'im go., he says…" He looked down into the cloudy abyss below, his shoulder-length, silver-white hair billowing in the wind. Dallas scratched his bushy mustache, seemingly lost in thought. "Let 'im go?" He laughed again, and the grunts chuckled. "Have it your way, son."

In one swift move, Dallas unleashed his hold on the Rocket Captain, and promptly dropped from the side of the chopper.

Suffice to say, the Grunts experienced a moment of "wait…..WHAT?" It took a moment for the fact that they had just lost their captive to sink in. What was more, he had seemingly committed suicide right in front of them.

However, in a few seconds that would become the least of their problems.

Bewildered, Bernie leaned over the edge of the helicopter, staring at Dallas' body as he fell out of the sky. "What the FUCK just happ–" He was cut off as, without warning, an invisible force launched him into the air. "BOSS!" Another grunt shouted, as they sprung up in a panic. By now, only Tyler and the man charged with restraining him were sitting down, as they were both strapped in. The other grunts in the helicopter bay were on their feet, scrambling around in a wild confusing and attempting to understand what was going on, rocking the aircraft in the process.

In the chaos, they had ceased paying attention to Tyler or the fact that he was still doubled over, fiddling with a string ripped from the insides of a parachute.

* * *

Sobbing, Kaitlyn buried her face into Cynthia's shoulder as the grunts in their chopper looked her over menacingly. Cynthia forced herself to remain composed as possible, for the younger girl's sake, but still could not help but allow herself to shed a few terrified tears. Tyler and Mewtwo had been captured; there was no hope for them now. She would almost surely be held captive by Team Rocket, for ransom and information, and it was only a matter of time before Giovanni realized that Dallas and Kaitlyn were of no use to him. What had they been thinking, bringing a teen girl and an old man with them on a mission as dangerous as this? How had they agreed to come?

_Because they haven't been told what the mission _IS, she thought, answering her own question. _Nobody has, other than Tyler and I. Not even Volkner and Aaron know why they're here. _

Her thoughts were interrupted by a shout from the soldier across from her. "What the hell is THAT?"

Everyone in the copter–minus the pilot–spun looked up, following the man's gaze to the chopper ahead of them. Barely visible from this distance, they made out a figure flying from the side of the helicopter, plummeting towards the Earth. Somehow, Cynthia and Kaitlyn knew–without really knowing–that it was Dallas. And he hadn't been pushed out of the chopper; he'd jumped.

"That's my grandad!" Kaitlyn exclaimed, sounding more proud than worried as her face brightened up. Cynthia couldn't help but somehow smile; whatever Dallas and Tyler had up their sleeves, they hadn't given up on them.

* * *

Approximately four thousand feet above sea level. Five hundred twelve feet of string per parachute. Four parachutes. Total two thousand fourty-eight feet of string. Body weights of 160, 220, 185, 217, 204, and 199 pounds. Average of 70 miles per hour of downward velocity. Dallas would stop falling in exactly 9.4 seconds. The other grunts would stop falling in no less than 13.5 seconds each. The chopper was moving forward at 23 miles per hour. In 9.4 seconds, they would be above a hill of the Sinnoh plains that rose twelve hundred fifty-two feet above sea level. Raikou was moving towards the top of the hill at 277 miles per hour. He would reach it in 9.3 seconds. His speed would break Dallas' fall by 40 miles per hour. Dallas would survive the fall. In upwards of 13.5 seconds, they would be above a valley only 300 feet above sea level. The assorted Rocket grunts would not survive the fall.

Tyler's superhuman mind processed these stats within 5 seconds of his realization of Dallas' plan to leap from the side of the chopper. Of course, it all depended on the assumption that the men would be bound with something strong enough to pull them from the chopper in a relatively timely fashion and, in Dallas' case, break their fall without killing them. Luckily, parachute string was one of the strongest manufactured in the world, able to withstand copious amounts of stress without snapping. In fact, it was strong enough to pull something as heavy as battle-ready hind out of the air, provided enough force was applied. Enough force, such as the combined weights of armored men.

The only problem was tying the four parachutes together in a way that was not only strong enough to hold together under such stress, but could be tied quickly enough that a simple diversion–such as keeling over and regurgitating–could provide enough time for it to be bound tightly.

That was were the Birch Knot came in. One of the strongest knots in the world, yet incredibly easy to tie when done right.

Six men bound by the Birch Knot, spread out across four parachutes' worth of nigh-unbreakable string, their respective weights pulling each other into the air and creating a domino effect of men falling out the sky. Ala, a Birch Parachute.

Tyler wasn't usually one to brag, due to the fact that he rarely felt emotions whatsoever, but he couldn't help admit: he was a bit of a genius.

As the final remaining grunt in the chopper finally realized what was happening and desperately clawed at the parachute string wrapped tightly around his boot, Tyler mercilessly grabbed his throat.

"You son on a bitch," the soldier choked.

With a stone cold expression, Tyler calmly removed the other man's pistol from his battle vest, and tapped the too-tight restraints around himself.

"You should have worn a seatbelt."

With that, he released his grasp on the grunt's neck, and the other man was torn out of the side of the chopper by his ankle.

Tyler finally unbuckled himself. In what seemed like one swift movement, he tied the end of the long parachute string to the inside of the chopper, loaded the stolen pistol, shot the still-oblivious pilot in the cockpit in the back of the head, and jumped. Not down, but backwards, toward the helicopter just behind them.

THE END

* * *

Yes, Pokemon has now become a Bruce Willis action film. Don't act like you don't love it.


	15. Chapter 15: In Memoriam

**CHAPTER 15: **IN MEMORIAM...

Riley had lost track of time. The springs in New Moon Island seemed to have that effect on him; everything that had transpired in the last few days was a bright blur, yet his mind seemed sharper than ever. The colors, the sounds, the smell, the sight of and abundant number of Pokemon playing in the water and in the nearby forest– they all felt like an all-too vivid dream. But all was not well in the island, and he knew it.

"Please tell me you've found Aaron," Frank would say to Cresselia, who constantly floated about the lake, on a daily basis. Riley couldn't tell if the young trainer was simply impatient to leave the island, or truly cared about his friend's well being. Cresselia seldom answered; in fact, Suicune seemed to be the eerie Pokemon's speaker. "Give her time," the blue beast would assure them, pacing by Cresselia's side. "Many troubling things are going on on this island; your friend's disappearance is but one of them."

Frank in particular seemed to spend a lot of time with Suicune. The two had formed an excellent bond, often going out together to explore the island together; Frank clearly enjoyed their travels, despite his inevitable disappointment when they came back to the Spring, still without having found Aaron.

Well, at least Shuckle enjoyed the exercise.

Riley preferred to stay close to home. Every day, he sat by Lucario's unconscious side, waiting for the humanoid jackal to regain consciousness. Admittedly, his Pokemon's health concerned him far more than Aaron's whereabouts; despite Cresselia's assurances that she had done everything in her power to help him. Physically, he had healed perfectly– it was his mental health that concerned Riley. Lucario's coma clearly was not normal; even Cresselia, the Awakening Pokemon, could not bring him to.

One night– 2 weeks after their arrival on the island, as a talking Slowking had informed them– Frank joined Riley's side near Lucario's body. "Nothing?"

"Nothing, still," Riley sighed, staring off into space. "I'm assuming your search was fruitless, as well."

"You got that right," Frank stretched out, leaning backwards and allowing Shuckle to jump off his back, onto the ground beneath him. "Suicune says he would know if Aaron's body was in the ocean, which means he's somewhere on the island"–Frank lowered his voice– "whether he's dead or alive."

"Don't talk like that," Riley muttered, idly toying with a Pokeball in his hand. Although Frank couldn't tell, inside it was an incredibly powerful Pokemon that Riley rarely showed others.

Frank nodded toward the ball, which was colored an odd dark grey-blue. "Watcha got there? A pal I haven't seen?"

Riley didn't reply for an uncomfortably long time. Finally, he clicked the button on the ball, shrinking it to a more portable size, and slipped it into his pocket. "Just a little memento from an...old friend." He stood up, groaning as he stretched sleepily, and patted Lucario's unconscious head. "C'mon, let's get to sleep. Tomorrow, I'll go out searching with you and Suicune."

* * *

It's hard to describe what it was like, being in those two helicopters after Tyler and Dallas' plan had unfolded. Cynthia and Kaitlyn remembered nothing more than the roar of a failing rotor, and the whine of the helicopter's engine as an outside force suddenly knocked it from its steady altitude over the fields outside Veilstone.

Someone looking from the outside, perhaps from a third helicopter, would have seen the following: An old, cowboy-like man dive from the first chopper, followed by several armored men, all connected by a thin wire that looked no different from fishing line. While the old cowboy man would have his fall broken, and would be miraculously caught atop a particularly high hill by what appeared to be a bolt of lightning, the other men were not so lucky. After the final guard had been pulled from the chopper, the same invisible force that had thrown them all into the air would now halt the vehicle's progress: the tension from the parachute line from the thousand-or-so pounds of men would prove too much for the helicopter's engine. The flying behemoth would suddenly flip in mid-air, and its final surviving passenger, a tall figure sporting a jet-black cloak and hair to match, dove from the bay, his almost inhuman strength propelling him backwards into the second chopper, which foolishly followed far too close behind. Then, as the second chopper began to fall from the sky as well, the black-clad man dove into its open passenger bay, quickly dispatched the guards inside, and emerged with a petrified Cynthia Watson and a screaming, flailing Kaitlyn Frost.

If the aforementioned spectator was still somehow able to follow the action at this point, they would then witness two spectacular explosions, as each of the choppers crashed to the ground not a mile outside Veilstone. They would hear the bright sirens blare and wail in the distance as Gym Leader Maylene sent emergency workers, expecting the worst. They would see Mewtwo's pod topple from the back of its chopper and smash into the ground, completely undamaged. They would see Dallas, unfazed, climb aboard his faithful Rapidash and gallop back towards Stephen and Volkner's duel with Commander Saturn's men. And, if this mysterious spectator were to stick around long enough, they would see the dust settle, and would see Tyler emerge from it holding Cynthia's unconscious body in his arms, exhausted, shaken, and wounded… but triumphant.

* * *

Cynthia's head was still spinning when she awoke. Blinking her eyes rapidly, she gasped for breath as she snapped into consciousness, having replayed the events of the past few days over and over again in her trauma-inflicted nightmares. Her eyes flickered wildly as she tried to take in her surroundings.

White. Everything was white. Where the hell was she? The Sinnoh Champion snapped upright, nearly straining her back in her sudden jerking movement, only to be caught by a cold, firm hand on her shoulder. Her still-blurry eyes turned to face a tall, black-clad figure standing over her, prominently darkened against the otherwise white surroundings.

"Tyler." Cynthia whispered, barely able to croak out the words. Their eyes met, and for a brief moment sparks seemed to fly between them. Then, Cynthia collapsed into his arms, bursting into tears of joy, relief, and pain. "You… you did it. You came back."

Tyler was taken aback by this sudden burst of affection, until he managed to relax his muscles and melt into her embrace. "I never left." He whispered.

Cynthia smiled and kissed him, sniffling and wiping a silver tear from her eye. Still dizzy and disoriented, she looked around. "W–Where are we?"

"Veilstone City Hospital, Cynth. We made it."

* * *

In the hospital's waiting room, Kaitlyn started in surprise as strong hands wrapped a blanket around her, jerking her from her deep, worried thoughts. She turned to see Frank's smiling face, his ever-faithful Shuckle peering just over his shoulder.

"Hey." She murmured, attempting to smile without success.

Frank raised an eyebrow, shifting his position to sit more comfortably in the rigid chair. "You feeling all right? It's over, Kaitlyn. We're safe, now."

Looking down, Kaitlyn whispered, "Yeah, I know, but…" She looked back up at him, her eyes welling up with tears. "What if something happened, Frank? What if they got grampa? What if he didn't survive the fall? What if–… oh Arceus, I should have gone back for him!" She broke down, sobbing violently into her hands.

Frank looked taken aback; this wasn't the insensitive, bitchy girl he'd come to know over the past few weeks they'd been traveling. For once, Kaitlyn seemed genuinely concerned about someone else. And, more surprisingly, she was opening up to him– without trying to flirt. "Hey, look… I know you're worried and all, and I understand, but I've got faith in your grandpa. He's the ex champion– he's the guy who took down half of Team Snagem, survived the Indigo Wars, and trained Cynthia. If there's anybody who could survive what just happened out there, it's him. And I know he'll fight to the bone, because he's got a new mission, and part of that mission is getting back here to see your smiling face again.

Her lip trembled, looking slightly reassured. "Th-thanks, Frank." She breathed heavily and rested her head against his shoulder. "Mind if I take a nap? I… I'm exhausted, and all this worrying isn't helping."

He chuckled. "Go ahead. You never really get to know a girl until your shirt's stained with her mascara for a couple hours."

She happily closed her eyes, trembling and trying to fall asleep. Just as she began to drift off, the waiting room door creaked open. In came Tyler, walking at a brisk pace yet stepping so lightly that Kaitlyn wouldn't have noticed him had he not spoken.

"How are you?" The black-clad psychic murmured, fiddling with medical appliances on the counter without looking up.

Kaitlyn growled through her teeth. "Trying to sleep." She sighed and sat up. "What the hell are _you _doing here? Aren't you some kind of telekinetic-ninja-superhero? Why aren't you out there, making sure my grampa and those boys are safe?"

Still refusing to look up, Tyler began shuffling through papers on the waiting room's desk, much to the objection of the nurse on duty. In a near-monotone, he replied: "Two reasons. First of all, it's more important that I stay here. There's a very imminent threat of a terrorist attack on Veilstone, and Mewtwo's still injured. If he dies, I die, and if that happens you're all doomed. I'll explain that part later. Quite frankly, we're more valuable than them, at the moment."

"Why you bast-" Kaitlyn began to rise, but Frank place a hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her down.

Tyler continued. "Secondly, because I've been in touch with them this whole time. Raikou was following your grandfather, and once he was sure he was safe they doubled back to help Watson and Matthews. If I had been able to help, I would have. Unfortunately, there was nothing I could do. I would have simply slowed them down."

"'Slowed them down'? Are they in a hurry to get back?"

Tyler's eyes glazed over as he made mental contact with Raikou again. "Yes, yes they are."

"Why? … Tyler, what the hell is going on out there?"

Tyler's face dropped, and he sighed as a new message was relayed through his mind. "It's… it's not good…" He blinked, once, twice, concentrating. "Shit." Tyler spun around to the frustrated nurse behind the counter. "We've got a problem. Wake up the ER; we're going to need four doctors; two physicians, a neurosurgeon, and a heart surgeon. Contact Nurse Joy, as well, and tell her to bring every Chansey she's got. Three men and eighteen Pokemon are about to come through that door, and most of them are going to need immediate medical assistance." In compliance, the flustered secretary began flipping on lights throughout the hospital and rapidly chattering into the phone.

"Tyler!" Kaitlyn exclaimed, rolling out of the hospital bed to her muscles' distaste. "Talk to us. What happened?"

Tyler took a deep breath. "Dallas went back for Stephen and Volkner. When he found them, they had successfully held off most of Saturn's men, but they were in bad shape. They were tired, their Pokemon were weak, and they were running out of cover. They thought they'd won, but more men showed up… men from Team Rocket."

"_What?"_

_"_Raikou was sure of it. They were bearing the Rocket insignia, and had weapons that we've never seen Saturn use. Even more strange, they didn't attack Saturn's men. They went right for Dallas."

"How is that possible?" Kaitlyn whispered. "Giovanni hates Cyrus and Saturn even more than you and Cynthia. Are you seriously saying that they're working together?"

Tyler shook his head, and for the first time in living memory he seemed to be at a loss for words. "We can't assume anything yet. I'm just telling you what Raikou said. But that's not important right now. What's important is that the Rockets didn't let our men get away without a beating. They had mortars, and they had Pokemon. Dallas seems intact, but the others… Stephen and Volkner? They were hit hard."

"How hard? What happened? Are they alive?"

Tyler raised his eyebrows, and checked the clock on the wall. "Well, we'll find out in about 3…2….1..."

And then, things began to happen rather fast.

Right on que, the hospital doors burst open. And ambulance siren could be heard as the truck screeched up to the corner of the emergency room, and men began shouting. Two of the doctors the nurse had summoned seemed to appear out of nowhere and rushed forward. The other two, the surgeons, could be seen running down the street towards the hospital, having been awoken from their respective homes. Nurse Joy wasn't far behind, sporting a huge first-aid kit and several Pokeballs.

A ragged figure staggered into the room, having lead the commotion behind him; from under his grand cowboy hat, Dallas gasped, clearly exhausted and terrified. Another nurse dashed into the waiting room and came to his aid, offering water and bandages, as Kaitlyn squealed in relief and went to hug him. Behind Dallas, on the curb outside the hospital, galloped his Rapidash, snorting and breathing ever more heavily than her trainer. Along her sides were fresh cuts and burns, and on her back lay a limp, bleeding body.

In a flash, Raikou appeared beside Rapidash. The huge, proud beast looked worried, out of place in the commotion of the city that had suddenly burst into uproar. It darted towards the now-parked ambulance, out of which paramedics were now wheeling an occupied stretcher.

Kaitlyn ran to Dallas' side. "Grampa! Are you okay? Are you hurt? What happened? Where are Stephen and Volkner?"

Unable to breathe or speak properly, the tired old man simply raised a finger to point at the man lying on Rapidash's uneasy back, and the bloody body that had been taken from the ambulance to the emergency room. Kaitlyn followed the former champion's gaze, and saw something in Dallas' eyes that he had never expected to see: fear. Sheer horror. The horror of a man who had had a nightmare long ago, and had just now been forced to relive it. She could only fear the worst.

Amidst the commotion of panicking trainers, wailing sirens, flustered nurses, surprised doctors, and cityfolk who had awoken to the chaos outside the hospital, only Tyler remained calm. Not because he was not worried, but because he knew that only the steadfast-minded could get things done. He approached Rapidash, extending a sturdy arm to mellow out the spooked horse. He reached up and took the body on Rapidash's back into his arms, and brushed back its hair.

Tyler looked down and saw Stephen's face; bruised, dirty, and bloody. The 15–or was it 16, now?–year old boy was unconscious, having sustained a terrible blow to his right temple. Had Tyler not been able to hear his faint heartbeat, he would have thought him to be dead. He then proceeded to carry the young trainer into the emergency room, all non-essential staff members pausing for a moment to take in the scene. Without skipping a beat, Tyler kicked open the doors into the hospital hallway, and approached the first room that had been prepared. With two doctors at his heels, he lay Stephen's pale body onto the bed and saw that an nurse immediately began attending to him. "Don't let this one die," Tyler grunted over his shoulder as he turned and began walking back to the Emergency Room. "He's important."

Of course, Tyler had only said that to frighten the nurse into working harder; he already knew for sure that Stephen would survive. The boy was resilient for his age, and his wounds, while serious, weren't fatal.

For Volkner, he could not say the same.

Knowing that Volkner was on the verge of death, Raikou and Dallas had contacted an ambulance to pick him up before anything else. Stephen had sustained a serious head injury, but the rest of his body was still intact enough to be laid across Rapidash's back on the way into the city. Volkner, however, had been too unstable. In fact, he was so badly injured that when the paramedics arrived they had been sure that he was already dead. In Team Rocket's assault, a mortar had landed so close to him that he could have read the logo on the side in the few seconds before the shell detonated. In the heat, blood, and commotion of the ambulance and ER, it was difficult to tell whether he mangled limbs were even still intact. As the doctors rushed by, wheeling his bloody mess of a body into the operating room, a Nurse gagged and Kaitlyn gasped, sending a silent prayer to Arceus.

Then, the young girl spun around to talk to Frank. "Frankie, do you think they'll–… Frank?" The wandering trainer was no longer standing by her side. Temporarily distracted from the gruesome scene before her, Kaitlyn looked around wildly. "Frank? Where'd you go?" She grabbed the arm of the horrified Nurse who had been standing by her bed a few minutes ago, now without anything to do. "Excuse me, miss, did you see where Frank went?"

The Nurse, despite everything, took a moment to look confused. "Who?"

"Frank." Kaitlyn said bluntly, her mind in a daze. What was going on? She just wanted to see Frank's face again. "The trainer that was by my bed. About this tall, short brown hair, he wears a Shuckle as a backpack?"

The Nurse shook her head helplessly. "I'm sorry, ma'am. Nobody was in your room besides me and Mr. Tyler. You're tired, you should get some rest."

* * *

On a far off Island, in the Sinnoh Ocean, Frank jolted awake from the dream, starling his Shuckle beside him. The dream he had awoken had rattled him; the vividness of the hospital, the warmth of Kailtyn's skin, the terror he felt when he saw Volkner's bloody mess of a body…

It couldn't have been just a dream. Something was wrong here. Frank nudged Riley's sleeping body, which lay only a few feet away in the grassy clearing. "Riley, get up. We have to find Aaron… and get off this island."

It only took Riley a second to blink himself into consciousness. "Right… right now?"

"Yes, right now. Something's going on here, and I don't like it. And the others need our help."

"How do you know?"

"I just… I just _do._"

"That's not a reason."

"Come on, let's just go."

"What about Lucario?"

"He's safe here, he's not going anywhere like this."


End file.
